Silver gilt Judaica Torah breast plate or shield by Langleben, London

This remarkable piece is a Jewish Torah breast plate, also known as a Torah shield, used to hold the Jewish religious text between readings, and was made in London at the end of the nineteenth century.

Crafted in silver and decorated with parcel gilding, it was made by the London maker Jacob Langleton, with the lower, hanging dedication disc made by Sigmund Zyto, also a London maker. Torah shields were popular from the 17th to the 19th century, and production was revived again in the 20th. Often they were purchased and donated to synagogues, occasionally with pendants for a dedicatee, as is the case here.

The shield bears the 10 commandments in Hebrew in the centre, with a crown above and a pair of lions facing the centre symmetrically. These stand upon pedestals, which are hallmarked and dated for J.L: Jacob Langleben, London, 1896, and frame a removable gilt plaque which denotes Yom Kippur, the holiest day of festival in Judaism.