Auction 97 Part 1 The Solomon David Schloss Collection (1815-1911)
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Silver, soldered, repoussé, and punched.
Hallmarks: On drip pan: · Fineness mark from Amsterdam; · Amsterdam city mark; · The letter "A" (1760); · Maker's mark "KUEN" (active 1755-1783). On servant light: later hallmark (tax mark?).
Large, magnificent Hanukkah lamp. The back plate is made to look like a large, baroque-style cartouche, with a large, scallop-shaped ornament on top and an extensive, shiny, convex reflecting surface in the middle. Adorned with symmetrical vegetal patterns, in addition to a pair of pitcher-shaped ornaments and a pair of angel-faced ornaments, positioned symmetrically. At the bottom, soldered to the bottom of the back plate and protruding outward, is a deep, wide, rectangular drip pan adorned with matching vegetal patterns. The row of oil fonts, with pinched, pointed spouts for the wicks, is attached to the back plate just above the drip pan by means of pins and nuts-and-bolts. The removable servant light has a spiraling wire for a handle, surmounting a rod to be inserted into a narrow tube positioned at the upper part the back plate. An aperture at the base of the upper scallop-shaped ornament is probably intended for suspension, although it may have formerly served for attachment of the servant light.
This is a rare, early model of Hanukkah lamp, and only a handful of examples are known to exist in museum collections, most of these had once belonged to Dutch Jewish families of Spanish-Portuguese origin.
Two lamps of this type, originating from Amsterdam, were created by the silversmith Harmanus Nieuwenhuys: one dated 1751, from the collection of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (acquired by her in 1907), is kept on loan at the Jewish Museum (of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, Amsterdam, item no. MB02280); and another, dated 1747, from the Maduro Family Collection, was sold by the auctioneers Venduehuis der Notarissen, the Hague, in 2016. The latter is very similar in design to the Hanukkah lamp presented here. A third lamp, created by silversmith Reynier de Haan, the Hague, 1752, is part of the collection of the Jewish Museum, New York (item no. F 3693). In addition to these, we know of two Hanukkah lamps of this type both made in the 17th century (Jewish Museum, Amsterdam, item no. MB00081; and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, item no. BK-1970-116), as well as three other lamps, from the early 18th century, whose rows of oil fonts are arranged in a semicircle.
In this context, it is also worth noting the Dutch-style Hanukkah lamp known as "the Lindo Lamp", created by silversmith John Ruslen in London in 1709 on behalf of Elias Lindo (housed today in the Jewish Museum of London, item no. JM 230), which also resembles the items in the family of lamps described here.
It is likely that the Hanukkah lamp presented here entered the Schloss collection from the direction of the family of Solomon Schloss’s young wife, Jeanette (née Raphael, 1829-1858); her grandfather and two of her uncles were Jewish bankers of Spanish origin, active in Amsterdam.
Height: 40.5 cm. Width: 25 cm. Depth: 9 cm. Minor Blemishes to one of the pitcher-shaped ornaments. Remnants of square hole to left side of the backplate, repaired (old soldering repair).
Reference: Niklaus Flüeler, "Museen in der Schweiz", Zürich, 1988, see photo on p. 24; Michele Klein, "Preserving Jewish heritage: Solomon Schloss's collection of Jewish ritual art", Journal of the History of Collections, vol. 34, no. 3, 2022, pp. 441-454.
Exhibitions:
1. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 238.
2. Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1019.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815–1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).
Silver, repoussé, punched, and engraved.
Hallmarks: · Maker's mark, the initials "IEB", for Johann Ernst Braungart (active in Breslau, 1754-1793); · Municipal mark of the city of Breslau; · The date-letter "G" – 1761-1776; · The initials "FW" in script – Prussian tax mark, in use beginning in 1809; · Later Dutch tax mark, in use in the years 1893-1905.
At the center of the back plate is a large depiction of an eight-branched Hanukkah menorah, encircled by a large cartouche composed of rocailles and vegetal patterns. To the right is the figure of Judith, holding a long sword in her right hand, and the severed head of Holofernes (a Chaldean general at the head of the army of Nebuchadnezzar) in her left. Judith’s maidservant appears on the left side of the back panel, holding a burning torch in her right hand, and a pitcher of oil in her left. Attached to the lower part of the back plate is a row of oil fonts shaped like elongated spoons, with tabs inside them for the wicks. The row of oil fonts is fastened to the back plate with screws, and is suspended above a drip pan with a rim whose undulations are designed to accommodate the oil fonts. A matching, removable servant light with a handle is attached to the lamp by means of a holder, soldered onto the upper left surface of the back plate. The lamp is supported on four leaf-shaped legs.
Height: 29 cm. Width: 26 cm. Depth: 8 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes to one of the supporting legs, with old soldering repairs. Minor hole and old soldering repairs to upper left side of back plate, probably as result of relocation of the servant light. Slight damage to edges of the back plate, near the servant light. Three original bolts oמ back side of back plate. Greenish staining to oil fonts.
For similar Hanukkah lamps bearing depictions of Judith, see: The Israel Museum Collection, item no. B86.0029, 118/869 (The Stieglitz Collection, item no. 135); The Jewish Museum, New York, item no. JM 26-64; Sotheby’s, New York, December 14, 2011, lot no. 12.
Regarding the works of the silversmith Johann Ernst Braungart, several Torah shields and a single Torah finial are known to be extant; see: Grafman, Crowning Glory: item no. 267; and Center for Jewish Art (CJA), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, item no. 37298.
Exhibitions:
1. Glasgow, Festival of Jewish Arts Exhibition, McLellan Galleries, 1951, item no. 240.
2. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel, JMS 1054.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).
Lot 21 Hanukkah Lamp in Architectural Design, with Sailboat-Shaped Servant Light – Germany, Ca. 1800
Wood, paint; silver, pierced, stamped, and engraved; coiled silver thread (filigree); gilt.
Hallmarks (marked in all parts): · Fineness mark "13"; · Initials "ML", possibly in reference to the silver assayer; · The initials "ML", combined with the number "13"; · Maker's marks – the initials "MA/T" inside a cloverleaf.
Hanukkah lamp in architectonic design, consisting of a rectangular wooden panel, painted black, overlaid in front with a metal ornament shaped like a victory arch, surmounted by a lion’s head, with a ring in its mouth, from which two chains hang down to connect to the bases of the columns of the arch, through a pair of holes near the bottom of each column.
On top of the wooden panel is a metal lintel, shaped like an open chest, which serves as the lamp’s drip pan. Suspended above the center of the drip pan is a strip of silver. Fixed into this metal strip is a row of narrow cylindrical tubes for the wicks. Above the silver strip is a removable silver gable pierced with vegetal patterns and shields, and inserted by means of three flat rectangular tabs into three corresponding slots situated just behind the back side of the chest-shaped lintel. At the center of the gable is an oval-shaped medallion, bearing a depiction of a markedly unusual scene (see above). The large, removable servant light – exquisitely fashioned in the shape of a miniature sailboat, with ropes made of twined silver thread running down from the masthead – has a zigzagging rod attached to the bottom of the hull, to be inserted into a ring at the top of the back of the gable. The entire lamp is supported on a rectangular stepped wooden base, which is painted black to match the main, vertical wooden panel.
A scene borrowed from Greek mythology appears on the medallion in the center of the gable. It shows the ethereally handsome divine hero Ganymede, son of the King of Troy, feeding the eagle which is about to abduct and transport him up to Mount Olympus. This mythological scene was to become a recurrent theme in European art, all the more so in the 18th and 19th centuries, expressed in a wide assortment of variations and mediums. But the version that appears here was apparently modeled specifically after a particular Roman marble relief dating from the first century BCE (collection of the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, item no. ГР-3098). The scene also appears in the book titled "Gli antichi sepolcri" (Rome, 1697, plate no. 110).
Height: 38 cm (without gable: 26 cm.). Width: 26 cm. Depth: 8.5 cm. Good condition.
For comparison, see: Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, item no. B76.0225, 118/701 (apparently created by the same craftsman); Mordechai Narkiss, The Hanukkah Lamp, "Bnei Bezalel", Jerusalem, 1939, p. 63 and item no. 151 (a Hanukkah lamp from the Feuchtwanger Collection, similarly featuring a mythological scene); The Stieglitz Collection, item no. 139; and The Jewish Museum London, item no. JM 269 ; Braunstein, item no. 173.
The precise original provenance of the Hanukkah lamp presented here is uncertain; in his book, Narkiss mentions similar lamps created in Berlin and Nuremberg. The lamp belonging to the Israel Museum collection is also attributed to Berlin, and two similar Hanukkah lamps sold through Sotheby’s in the 1980s were attributed to Frankfurt am Main.
Exhibition: Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1021.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).
Silver, repoussé, cast, and engraved; remnants of gilt.
Hallmarks: fragmentary marks bearing a pinecone emblem, apparently false.
The back plate is adorned with a pair of rampant lions flanking a seven-branched Menorah surmounted by a large royal crown. The rim of the back plate is decorated with rocailles and acanthus leaves. In front is a rectangular container consisting of eight oil fonts and covered with a hinged lid and supported by four legs shaped like crouched lions. The removable servant light is positioned on top of a spiralling rod.
This lamp is representative of a style that was prevalent in Frankfurt in the 18th century, and is particularly reminiscent of Hanukkah lamps created by the silversmith Rötger (Rüdiger) Herfurth (see lot no. 16 in the present catalogue). Items such as these are also known to have been made in Berlin, Hanau, and Hamburg, as noted by Mordechai Narkiss ("The Hanukkah Lamp", Jerusalem, 1939, p. 62).
Height: 16 cm. Width: 17 cm. Good condition.
For comparison, see: The Jewish Museum New York, item nos. JM 188-68, F 5237; The Stieglitz Collection, item nos. 136-137; Sotheby’s, New York, June 4, 1996, lot no. 67.
Exhibitions:
1. London, Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition, Royal Albert Hall, 1887, item no. 1742 (dated to the 17th century).
2. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, either item nos. 232, 245, or 248.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).
Silver, cut, repoussé, engraved, and punched.
Hallmarks: · Fineness mark "12"; · The letter "E" in script (possibly maker's mark).
The back plate bears a pattern of diamond shapes; its rim is lined in repoussé with entwined leaves, and the center is ornamented with a large bouquet of flowers. In front is a rectangular container consisting of eight oil fonts and covered with a hinged lid. Cut into the lid are eight openings for hollow cylindrical tubular spouts through which the wicks are to be inserted. A removable trapezoidal servant light with a spiraling handle is positioned on the right, in back. The lamp is supported by four spherical legs.
This particular decorative pattern adorning the back plate can also be found on German Torah shields as well as on 18th century German Hanukkah lamps; over the years, use of this design spread to Poland and Austria-Hungary (Mordechai Narkiss, "The Hanukkah Lamp", Jerusalem, 1939, p. 64, item no. 149).
Height: 19 cm. Width: 21 cm. Old soldering repairs. An additional bracket for servant light is soldered onto the back.
Exhibitions and references:
1. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, either item nos. 232, 245, or 248. Documented in a photograph appearing in the following article in which the above exhibition is reviewed: "The Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Part 2: Ecclesiastical Art", "The Jewish Chronicle", November 16, 1906, pp. 17-20 (illustration on p. 20).
2. Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1055.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).