Silver Hanukkah Lamp
Caspar Birckenholtz
1661–1690
Image
This Hanukkah lamp from Frankfurt am Main, like the earliest known silver Hanukkah lamps made in Germany, is shaped like a chest and resembles inkwells of the period. This one is relatively unornamented, perhaps reflecting a style popular at the time. It has spouts for the wicks in the shape of fish heads, for reasons unknown. (One theory is that it was commissioned by a fish seller.)
Credits
Hanukkah Lamp. Gift of Mrs. Albert A. List / The Jewish Museum, New York.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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