This large silver Hanukkah lamp features a canopy at top, with a cut-out window below where a piece of parchment could be inserted that would have the blessings of Hanukkah inscribed on it (the parchment is a later replacement). Row of oil fonts above a reservoir in which all fallen oil is collected into a slide-able drawer, making for a lamp that can be cleaned much easier after each consecutive night of lighting. Scalloped border at bottom. Stamped decoration of shell-motif around window, and this same shell decoration is repeated around the entire lower part of the lamp. Hand-chased decoration of leaf-and-berries around the square shaped front of the sliding box, and around that, engraved zig-zagging. Bearing French import hallmarks, circa 1820 (or earlier),
from Germany. On page 67 of the book “Five Centuries of Hanukkah Lamps from The Jewish Museum: A Catalogue Raisonné”, there appears a large silver Hanukkah lamp from early 18th century Germany, which has some styling features that theHanukkah lamp has, such as the cut-out window to insert a piece of parchment in with the blessings of Hanukkah inscribed on it, as well as the oil-fonts, which are of the same distinctive elongated shape. In the book “The Hanukkah Lamp”, by Narkiss, plate 172 features another large Hanukkah lamp from Germany that has parchment placed in a cut-out window. This Hanukkah lamp, which is larger in size than both lamps previously referenced from museum publications, should be seen in person to take in its presence. Made of thick sheets of silver that have been masterfully cut, decorated and assembled, this would have resided only in the wealthiest of Jewish households. Our lamp would fit in nicely as part of a museum exhibit showcasing artifacts of the 18th and early 19th century Jewish bourgeois class of Germany or France.
