Sephardic tik in wood and silver from the Maghreb

The tik is a rigid case, generally cylindrical or polygonal, that encloses the Torah scroll and keeps it upright during the reading, the officiant reading the text with the scroll standing open in its case. This practice is characteristic of the Oriental and Sephardic rites, as opposed to the Ashkenazic rite in which the scroll is laid flat and undressed. In the Maghreb, these cases are made of assembled wood, opened by a hinge, and plated or embellished with repoussé and engraved silver, sometimes with precious woods; they are crowned with rimonim and a crown. Their fabrication combines the work of the carpenter and that of the silversmith, in forms that continue a long Mediterranean tradition of Torah cases.