AMULET
India(?), c.1900
Paper, ink, printed, written

Amulets were printed in many different parts of the world where Jews resided. This example is probably from the East; it is likely that the place of printing was India. The amulet was printed with a space for writing in the namen. On this amulet the name was written with an ink which has bled, and which has eaten away part of the paper, forming a smudge.

The images in the middle are copied from a printed copy of Raziel Mamalach (Raziel the Angel), a book of practical Kabbalah first printed in Amsterdam in 1701. An edition was also printed in Calcutta, India, in 1845. These images are of angels whose protection was requested for a pregnant woman. This is a classic birth amulet.

Height: 19.4 cm, Width: 14.7 cm

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