Ceramic wedding plate (Hebraica) from Central Europe

This object is linked to the Ashkenazi custom of breaking a plate or ceramic vessel at the betrothal ceremony (tenaïm), to seal the engagement and recall, like the glass broken beneath the bridal canopy, the fragility and the memory of the destruction of the Temple. The plate, in glazed ceramic, is sometimes made to be broken, or preserved as a testimony of the engagement. Central European pieces bear Hebrew wishes and the betrothal formula painted on the glaze, sometimes with the date and names. This object illustrates the ritualization of the stages of marriage in Ashkenazi Judaism.