Hanukkah Lamp

Rötger Herfurth

ca. 1769–1776

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Silver oil lamp with lions on each side and crown on top. — The master silversmith Rötger Herfurth was particularly well known for his Hanukkah lamps, most of which have backplates and rampant lions, a style he popularized and which came to be known as the “Frankfurt type.” The box with a banner on the right is for the shamash, the candle or wick used to light the eight lights in the tray. Herfurth created a new style of Judaica, which had no previous parallels, and his work had a significant impact on later Christian silversmiths who made such objects. These lions, commonly featured on Judaica ceremonial objects and constituting a heraldic function, hold a crowned cartouche that encloses an eight-branched menorah. Silver: repoussé, traced, pierced, punched, and cast 5 3/8 × 5 1/2 × 2 11/16 in. (13.6 × 14 × 6.9 cm).

Credits

The Jewish Museum, New York. Gift of Adele Ginzberg, F 5237.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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Creator Bio

Rötger Herfurth was a Christian silversmith who worked in Frankfurt. Herfurth became a master silversmith in 1748, joining the Leschhorn family workshop, which was active for about a century. He produced numerous ceremonial objects for Jewish clients, following a fire in Frankfurt’s Jewish ghetto in the early eighteenth century that claimed much of the community’s existing Judaica. As a result of restrictions imposed on Jews prior to Emancipation that restricted their access to entering the silver-working trade, ceremonial objects were commissioned from Christian artisans. Herfurth created menorahs, candlesticks, spice boxes, Torah finials, and other objects for ritual use.

Details

Public Access

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