Elaborate Parchment Ketubah - "Following the Custom of the Megorashim" - Gibraltar, 1911

Elaborate Parchment Ketubah - "Following the Custom of the Megorashim" - Gibraltar, 1911
Ketubah recording the marriage of the groom Refael Avraham son of R. Yaakov Bendahan, with the bride Esther Evelina daughter of R. David Benabu. Gibraltar, Tishrei 1911.
The ketubah is inscribed on a large parchment leaf, with color decorations (brown, gold, green, red, yellow and blue). The ketubah is topped with an elaborate, bejeweled, gilt crown, surrounded by the customary wishes: "BeSimna Tava…". A large basket filled with flowers forms a frame around the ketubah. The handle of the basket is entwined with intricate flowers and ribbons. The text of the ketubah is inscribed in neat Sephardic, semi-cursive script, the word "Chai" is emphasized and enlarged.
At the foot of the leaf, a monogram with the initials of the names of the groom and bride.
The artist's signature appears in the lower, right-hand corner: D. M. Benabu.
The text of the ketubah follows the custom of the megorashim (Spanish exiles who reached Gibraltar), who suffered the persecution of the Spanish Inquisition (see article). The ketubah concludes: "And everything according to the custom, conditions and regulations which were observed and instituted in the holy communities which were exiled from Castile, may G-d avenge them, have mercy and console their surviving remnants now and forever…".
Beneath the text of the ketubah, the signatures of the groom and two witnesses: "Rachman Naim" (R. Refael Chaim Moshe son of Naim, rabbi of Gibraltar); "Yehoshua Gabbai of the Niftzot Yehuda community".
Parchment leaf. 75X65 cm. Good-fair condition. Many creases, affecting ornaments in several places.
This elegant ketubah follows the traditional style of ornamented ketubot prevalent in the 19th and early 20th century in Gibraltar, while at the same time expressing the emergence of modern art, and it serves as a unique example of the end of this tradition.