Abe Wintner, who owned the Abe Wintner Judaic Art Co. on Beverly Boulevard opened his store at 7319 Beverly Boulevard in 2010 and filled it with Judaic artworks and ceremonial pieces. Abe’s parents and relatives endured untold hardships during World War II while living in the former Czechoslovakian village, Kosice. Abe was born, while his parents were hiding from the nazis in 1945 in the mountains of Czechoslovakia. Wintner’s father and mother fled their village as the Nazis were advancing in 1943, and lived for approximately one year in the nearby Tatra Mountains.
His father, Eliezer, owned a successful textile business and had considerable wealth. Eliezer Wintner has been credited with saving the lives of over 10,000 Jews who otherwise would likely have perished. He used his money to bribe the Germans and Czech police to allow them to go into the mountains. They survived on very little food.
The Wintner family moved to Belgium, Israel, and later Los Angeles. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wintner attended a rabbinical school in Baltimore, Ner Israel, where he began collecting antique Judaic art. He saved small increments of money sent by his family for clothing and food and used it to buy antique menorahs, candlesticks, spice boxes, and items used in religious ceremonies. It would turn into a personal desire for collecting artworks that he said represented the strength and resolve of the Jewish people. “It’s the only store specializing in antique Judaica west of New York, ” Wintner said. “I am addicted to it. Some people drink or fool around. This is my addiction — art. Wintner credited his love for art collecting with helping him put the memories of the past somewhat to rest, his store brought a renewed sense of peace to his life.
Abe married Yvonne in 1979 and has 2 children, Dahlia who lives in Raanana, and Yoni living in Los Angeles. Abe has been blessed with 7 grandchildren. Wintner regularly travels to auctions around the country. His collection has grown to include more than 800 pieces, from paintings, drawings, and sculptures to engraved silver and hand-carved wood pieces. Many of the artworks date back 300 to 400 years.
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LOT 16:
Esther Scroll – Italy, First Half of 17th Century – Including the Blessings for the Reading of the Scroll and a ...
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Sold for: $650
Start price:
$
100
Buyer's Premium: 25%
sales tax: 8.375% On the full lot's price and commission
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Esther Scroll – Italy, First Half of 17th Century – Including the Blessings for the Reading of the Scroll and a Piyyut, with Scribe's Colophon
Esther scroll. [Italy, ca. first half of 17th century].
Sephardic script, typical of Italy . 22 lines per column. Italian spelling tradition. Membranes sewn as customary in 17th century Italy. In six places, enlarged letters spell out the four-lettered Names of G-d.
Wooden roller.
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Separate parchment benediction leaf, written in the same hand, with the blessings recited when reading the Esther scroll and with the liturgical poem "Kor'ei Megillah". The text follows the Italian rite, and includes the closing line of prayer that G-d will take revenge on contemporary persecutors of the Jewish people just as He did in earlier times, frequently censored in prayer books. Signed: "So says the writer… residing in a foreign land, Mordechai son of Shemariah… scribe from Metz, France… residing in Fossano, Piedmont".
Roller height: 45 cm.
Scroll height: 33.5 cm.
Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears and damage. Fading and damage to some words.
Leaf height: 18.5 cm.
Good-fair condition. Stains, creases and wear. Several holes. Open tear to upper margin, not affecting text.
