In 1646 the wealthy Portuguese-Jewish merchant-banking family De Pinto fled from Antwerp and settled in Rotterdam. Here they reverted to the Jewish faith of their ancestors and founded the famous Jesiba de los Pintos. They appointed Chacham Joshuahu Pardo as rector and rabbi for this school of Jewish studies. In 1668, on the death of Abraham de Pinto, the whole family, together with the rabbi, moved to Amsterdam. The school was also moved to Amsterdam. In the last quarter of the 17th century a branch of the De Pinto family settled in The Hague in order to be near the stadtholder's court and to share in court life.
According to the present owner, who is related to the De Pinto family, this Torah Ark, Hekhal, was located in the private home synagogue of the family de Pinto in The Hague.

A related Torah Ark forms part of the interior of the winter synagogue of the Portuguese-Jewish Community of Amsterdam, situated in the former auditorium of Ets Haïm and is illustrated in J. Belinfante, The Esnoga, a monument to Portuguese-Jewish culture, Amsterdam, 1991, p. 65.

Another related Torah Ark is illustrated in J.F. van Agt, Synagogen in Amsterdam, 1974, p. 48, fig. 41. This one was situated in the Synagogue of Maarssen, where a small Portuguese-Jewish community existed till the beginning of the 19th century.

See illustration