Judaica

Sotheby’s Judaica Department offers Hebrew manuscripts and books, silver, ritual objects and fine arts, including paintings and graphics. Hebrew books and manuscripts generally date from the 15th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Objects for personal ritual and synagogue use, mainly in silver, are also offered in these sales, along with items created at the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem. Fine art offerings include works by leading Jewish artists such as Isidor Kaufmann, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Edouard Brandon, Maurycy Gottlieb, Solomon Alexander Hart, Marc Chagall, and others from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Sotheby’s is the only international auction house which holds an annual sale of Important Judaica. Our international team of eleven specialists, located in the major collecting centres of London, New York and Tel Aviv, has consistently set record prices in the field, including $2.9 million for a Hebrew Bible from the 9th or 10th century.

The sale of the Michael and Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection in April 2013 marked the most valuable sale of Judaica ever held, with leading cultural institutions worldwide acquiring treasures from the iconic collection, including the Mishneh Torah, purchased jointly by the Israel Museum, Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.