HEBREW MANUSCRIPT. Marriage Contracts. Two North African ketubbot. The first from Oran, Algeria, Thursday, 14 Elul 5624 (15 September 1864). Hand-painted with glued paper strips on paper, 485 x 337 mm. Groom: Samuel, son of the late Abraham...al-Khanoni(?); Bride: Najma, daughter of Moses...Zaror(?). This ornate contract displays its text beneath a multifoil-pointed Moorish arch, a framing device characteristic of North African ketubbot from this period and region. Rectangular frames filled with flora, foliage, guilloches, and biblical verses provide rich embellishment around the central archway. The page's green, red, brown and ochre palette was once enhanced by gold-colored paper strips which have since faded. An official French seal embossed onto the page shows an eagle and the words "TIMBRA IMPERIAL." Enclosed in a modern glazed frame; not examined outside of frame -- The second: Rabat, Wednesday, 12 Shevat 5618 (27 January 1858). Brown ink on vellum, 305 x 103 mm. Framed by a rectangular border filled with scrolled foliage, the ketubbah encloses its text within a rounded Moorish arch -- Shiviti Plaque, Livorno, 24 Av 5653 [1893]. Watercolor and gold paint on paper, 660 x 495 mm. Decorated in a North African style, the page displays in its center the two tablets of the Ten Commandments flanked by two inscribed menorot and surmounted by a blessing hand and two crescent moons, each cradling a star. Numerous medallions with Hebrew inscriptions further embellish the document, which is colored in blue, green, red and gold. An inscription at bottom tells that the Shiviti plaque was presented to Barukh Corcos, his wife, and family, on the above-mentioned date -- Shiviti Plaque, 5 May 1865. Signed and dated by Moses Philip Dien. Painted in green, red and yellow on ruled paper, 198 x 130 mm. The plaque shows the seven-branched candelabra, inscribed with biblical verses and flanked by eight-point stars with rosettes. Enclosed in glazed frame; not examined outside of frame. Sabar, "The Illustrated Ketubbah in North Africa." Recherches sur la culture des Juifs d'afrique du Nord, Jerusalem, 1991, pp. 191-208. Sabar, Ketubbah, pp. 349-360. (4)