Gibraltar, 1929

Bride: Masuda bat Avraham bar Barukh Tsarfati
Groom: Menahem bar Masud bar Menahem
Monday, 16 Sivan, 5689 (June 24, 1929)
On vellum

The Jewish community of Gibraltar consisted primarily of Jews of Sephardic (Iberian) descent who settled there after the British took control of the island. The decoration of ketubot from Gibraltar generally follows a distinct tradition. The text is enclosed in a wreath of flowers which is topped by a crown and tied below by a bow. This ketubah follows that pattern. The flowers that make up the wreath are carnations. The crown is probably an allusion to Gibraltar's British rulers. The text is written in a Sephardic semi-cursive script with the names of the bride and groom written in Hebrew block letters. The word "hai" (life) appears in the text in large red block letters as is traditional for Sephardic ketubot.

A full size, readable image of this Ketubah is available by following this link to the Beinecke's Digital Image Collection