Pair of Torah finials, made by a silversmith of the Häberlein family. Nuremberg, Germany, [probably first half of 19th century].
Silver, repoussé and engraved (marked with Nuremberg city mark of the 19th century, the letter "N"; maker’s mark, the initials GH – a silversmith of the Häberlein family, possibly Georg Häberlein; and with quality mark, "800").
Torah finials of an unconventional design. Finial bodies in shapes of flattened spheres, with a belt of spherical protuberances adorning the midline, and with engraved vegetal patterns adorning the top of the sphere as well as its base. Both bodies surmounted by a flower-shaped ornament, in turn surmounted by an additional sphere. Tall, cylindrical shafts.
References: Karin Tebbe, ed., Nürnberger Goldschmiedekunst 1541-1868, exhibition catalogue, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Abt. Verlag, Nuremberg, 2007, No. MZ1025b; Marc Rosenberg, Der Goldschmiede
Merkzeichen, Frankfurt A.M.: Frankfurter Verlags, 1922, No. 4313.
Height: 24.5 cm. Maximal width: 10 cm. Weight: 630 g. Overall good condition. Minor warping. Pin missing from middle part of one finial. Loose screw joints to upper parts of both finials.
Provenance: The Simon Brueckheimer Collection.
Simon Brueckheimer, born in Külsheim, Germany, in 1889. Moved to Marktbreit in 1911, and began serving there as an educator in 1920. In 1929 he initiated a project to document sacred objects and property of Bavarian Jewish communities, which he pursued during his vacation time as a teacher, under the auspices of the Union of Bavarian Jewish Communities (Verband Bayerischer Israelitischer Gemeinden). Brueckheimer escaped to Frankfurt in the heat of Kristallnacht, but was then arrested and sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. After six weeks he was released, returned to Marktbreit, and then emigrated with his family to London, where he continued his documentation project on Bavarian Jewry. In the course of his visits to small Bavarian Jewish communities and later, after moving to London, Brueckheimer succeeded in assembling a small collection of Jewish items, which he had acquired either during his visits to the towns themselves or from purchases from Jewish refugees escaping to England. The important items in his collection include a cup used for special dinners by the "Chevrah Kadisha" (Burial Society) of Schwabach, today part of the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and a Torah Shield belonging to the community of Goßmannsdorf, sold at Kedem, Auction 106, 24 February 2026, Lot 14. His notes and listings – documenting 150 small Jewish communities throughout Bavaria – are kept in the archives of the Yad VaShem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Jerusalem. Brueckheimer passed away in England in 1950.
Several additional items from the Simon Brueckheimer Collection will be offered for sale at our upcoming public auctions. All proceeds from these sales will be donated.
