Preserving Jewish heritage

Abstract The family heirlooms and Jewish ritual objects owned by Frankfurt-born Solomon David Schloss (1815–1911), an ardent Jew, who was much affected by the death of his young wife, shed light on how one man participated in the growing trend for preserving Jewish heritage in the late nineteenth century. The story of his collection, spanning a century and a half, coincides with the modern history of collecting Jewish ceremonial art. This account reveals, as with other types of art collection, a variety of motives, changes in meaning and challenges of provenance research. Schloss’s purchase of Jewish ritual items from needy Jews has added moral value to the collection, most of which has remained, as he wished, in the family. Although frequently loaned for didactic public display, the personal sense of ancestry that his objects embody distinguishes them from those in museums.