Special silver Menorah. Frankfurt, 18th century
A classic piece for its location and era, this beautiful silver backplate menorah is embossed, pierced and chased with lions flanking a crowned cartouche with a menorah amidst rococo scrolls. In the front there is a rectangular container with a hinged lid adorned with square engravings and a small lifting handle covering eight oil pans with half-tubes for wicks. The menorah is set on four silver legs.
The menorah is marked with the city’s hallmark (TARDY p. 38) and an artisan’s insignia. The insignia, which appears to combine the letters RG and H, indicates that this menorah was likely the creation of silversmith Rotger Herfurth who fashioned several types of menorahs like this one (see items 156-157 on p. 235 in the collection of Chanukah menorahs at the Jewish Museum in New York).
See similar item in the Jewish Museum in London, item #241, and in the Stieglitz Collection p. 182, item #137.
Condition: Good; with minor defects. Missing shammash.
Size: Height: 17 cm. Width: 19 cm.
Weight: 368 grams
Provenance:
1. Sotheby’s New York, March 1999.
2. Yechezkel Toporowitch Collection.
Frankfurt and Berlin Menorahs
German Jews traditionally prided themselves on using silver menorahs for Chanukah. This custom is likely rooted from Sefer “Yosef Ometz” (Book of Rituals and Customs, 1723) by the Frankfurt Kehillah which cites the sefer Seder Hayom regarding the custom of lighting candles in a silver menorah.
Demand for silver menorahs among all stratums of Jewish society began in Frankfurt, but spread swiftly to Berlin and other German Jewish communities. This established a need for smaller menorahs that would reduce the high costs and also facilitate use for travelers and wayfarers, but that would still be attractive enough to fulfill the dictum of “Zeh Keli V’anvehu” which entails beautifying every mitzvah to the best of one’s ability.
One of the most striking motifs of these menorahs are the bazichim, the cups earmarked for the oil, which are shaped as a small box with four legs from which eight half-branches or tubes emerge. These menorahs also feature a cover and an attractive backplate. One of the artists most renowned for crafting this style of menorah was a Christian smith by the name of
Rotger Herfurth whose earliest known pieces are dated as far back as 1748. Herfurth’s style was later replicated by many later artists. This type of menorah remained popular until the end of the 19th century.
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