Hanukkah lamp adorned with a pair of lions and a pair of birds, bearing the name of the owner, "Yeshuah Zarka", and an additional inscription, all cast in the brass. [Tunisia (or Algeria), ca. 1800].
Cast brass; copper nails.
Rare, massively large item, representing the prototype of a group of North African Hanukkah lamps; bearing the name of its owner, "Yeshuah Zarka may his Rock and Redeemer protect him", and the Hebrew inscription "For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light", both inscribed as part of the original brass casting process.
The back plate consists of two sections held together with nails (and with the added support of a flat plate connected from behind). It is shaped in the form of an architectonic arch adorned with tendrils, leaves, and flowers, and surmounted by a five-lobed crown-like ornament, itself surmounted by a clover-like ornament topped with a suspension ring. Two large, crested birds support the crown from either side, and a pair of lions with outstretched tongues are positioned further down along the arch. The lion, bird, and crown ornaments were all cast individually, and all are held in place with nails. At the base of the arch is a horizontal strip bearing the Hebrew inscription, produced as part of the lamp’s original casting process: "For the commandment is a lamp / Yeshuah Zarka / and the teaching is light / [abbreviation] may his Rock and Redeemer protect him". Two diminutive steeples appear on either side of the arch, toward the bottom.
The side panels are also arch-shaped, and they are both decorated with matching vegetal patterns, as well as a steeple-shaped ornament on the façade and a bird-shaped ornament on the top of the arch (although the bird is missing from one of the two side panels). The row of oil fonts is imposingly large, and has a pair of tabs on either side for insertion into corresponding slots in the side panels, as well as a pair of tabs on the back for insertion into corresponding slots in the back panel.
We have been unable to conclusively ascertain the identity of the "Yeshuah Zarka" whose name features in the inscription. One particular individual by that name was the son of Moshe Zarka and the grandson of Rabbi Yosef Zarka; the latter was widely regarded as one of the greatest of Tunisian rabbis of the 18th century, living from ca. 1722 to ca. 1798, but not much is known regarding his grandson Yeshuah. If the owner of the lamp is indeed this Yeshuah Zarka, we may assume that the present object was created toward the end of the 18th century or in the early decades of the 19th. But experts have dated this particular model of Hanukkah lamp to the 18th century, so it is quite possible that the individual in question may be some other member of this same Tunisian rabbinic family. Perhaps it is the son-in-law of Yosef Zarka, "Rabbi Ye’ushah", mentioned by the Hida (Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806) in his book titled "Ma’agal Tov", documenting his journey to Tunisia in 1773-74.
Apart from the present Hanukkah lamp, only three copies of this particular type are known to exist, all belonging to museum collections: Two are in the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (one – item no. 358-11-65;118/194, previously in the Abraham Ticho Collection – having only the pair of lions; and the other, item no. B02.0972;118/509, previously belonging to the Bezalel Collection, having neither the lions nor the birds, instead being surmounted by a "hamsa" symbol with a servant light in front); and one other copy – in the collection of the Jewish Museum, New York (item no. F4656, previously belonging to the JTS collection, also having neither lions nor birds). The present Hanukkah lamp, belonging to the Gross Family Collection, is the only known copy of this type bearing both the lion and bird adornments.

Height: 27 cm. Width: 22 cm. Overall good condition. Fragments of lions’ tails missing. Bird ornament missing on one side panel.

References:
1. The Hanukkah Lamp, by Mordechai Narkiss. Jerusalem, 1939, p. 66, item no. 152 (Hebrew with English summary).
2. North African Lights: Hanukkah Lamps from the Zeyde Schulmann Collection in the Israel Museum, by Chaya Benjamin. Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, 2003, English-language edition, p. 161, checklist item nos. 120 and 121; pp. 147, 150-51, 181.
3. Five Centuries of Hanukkah Lamps from The Jewish Museum: A Catalogue Raisonné, by Susan Braunstein. New York, The Jewish Museum / New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 325.
Reference:
1. The Isaac Einhorn Collection, Tel Aviv.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 010.002.078.
This Hanukkah lamp is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 37406.

Esther scroll in an elaborate silver case. Vienna, 1840s (ca. 1845).
Ink on parchment; cast, repoussé, stamped and engraved (marked with the seals of the city Vienna, with the year (blurred) and the smith's mark – the initials CI – Carl Isack).
Esther scroll, written in Ashkenazic script on three parchment membranes sewn together, 15 columns of text, 30 lines per column.
The scroll is placed in an elaborate silver case, which well represents the qualities of Viennese smithing. Cylindrical case, decorated with rich vegetal patterns including flowers, acanthus leaves, rocailles, and a large, blank, rococo cartouche in the center. At the top of the case is a lid surrounded by a wreath of clover leaves and a crown featuring half-arches styled as branches; at the edge of the lid is located a large ornament styled as a cluster of leaves winding upwards, topped with buds.

Height of parchment: 16.5 cm. light stains and tears; height of case: approx.. 42 cm. Good condition.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 080.001.002.
This item is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 23677.

Kiddush cup for Sabbath and Holidays. Augsburg, Germany, 1743-1745; dedicatory inscription dated 5505 [1745].
Silver, cast and engraved (base marked with city mark, and maker’s mark – Johann Mittnacht III – with the letter "I" above the letter "M" enclosed within an elliptical frame); gilt.
Early, high-quality German Kiddush cup. Octagonal goblet, supported on a fancy leg with a broad, terraced base. The upper segment of the base has a dome-like, undulating surface. Like the body, the leg and most of the base are octagonal. The base and aspects of the body are adorned with vegetal patterns and matching guilloches. Three Hebrew inscriptions are very delicately engraved onto the surfaces of the eight aspects of the body, and arranged in three rows: "On the eighth day you shall have an ‘atzeret’; you shall do / no manner of servile work" (Numbers 29:35; the reference to Shemini Atzeret is uncommon in such kiddush cups);); "And Moses declared unto / the Children of Israel the appointed seasons of the Lord" (Leviticus 23:44); and "Year 5505…" [1745]. On the bulging upper part of the leg, an additional Hebrew inscription appears, mostly likely indicating the name of the cup’s owner, "G. Scheu" or "G. Schew".
The silversmith Johann Mittnacht III (1706-1758, licensed as an artisan from 1735 onward) was a member of a family of silversmiths active in Augsburg in the 18th century. Goblets he produced can be found in both private and museum collections; all are noteworthy for their exceptional craftsmanship, and all are gilt or partly gilt (like the cup presented here), and display decorative patterns markedly similar to the present cup.

Height: 15 cm. Diameter at rim: 7 cm. Diameter at base: 7 cm. Good condition.

Provenance:
1. Acquired in the United States from a Jewish family that immigrated from Germany in the early 20th century.
2. The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 017.001.097.
This cup is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 35809.

Illuminated book of haftarot, with embroidered binder. [Central Europe, (perhaps Germany or the Netherlands?), ca. 18th century].
Ink and paint on parchment; embroidery of colored silk thread and metallic threads on linen.
Book of Haftarot in scroll-form, comprising the year-round haftarot and haftarot for special Shabbatot. Written on parchment in square, vocalized script, with cantillation marks. Initial words emphasized and enlarged, ornamented with delicate colorful floral designs, inspired by late-medieval and Renaissance manuscripts (possibly added at a later date). The first initial word includes miniature illustrations.
The haftarot for Parashiot Vayakhel and Pekudei are marked "Ashkenazi rite", likewise the haftarah for Parashat Zachor.
The book is wound like a Torah scroll on two wooden staves, and accompanied by a corresponding binder embroidered with delicate floral patterns in colored silk and metallic threads; the binder embroidery is reminiscent of the ornaments found in the scroll itself.

Height of parchment: 32 cm; height including staves: 60 cm. Overall good condition. Binder – length: approx. 90 cm. Maximum width: 20 cm. Fair condition. Extensive wear, rubbing and unraveling.

Reference: Scrolling Through the Haftarah, by David Stern, in: Windows on Jewish Worlds, Essays in Honor of William Gross, edited by Shalom Sabar, Emile Schrijver and Falk Wiesemann, pp. 165-173.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 082.012.005.