Two artillery shell casing decorated in the style of the Bezalel School. Ca. 1917.

Engraved brass, inlaid with copper and silver (damascening).

Two artillery shell casings from German canon shells, 75 mm, decorated in the style of the Bezalel School, with arabesque and vegetal patterns, and with date palms – in all likelihood created not long after the conquest of Jerusalem by British forces in the First World War.

The first of the shell casings features a Menorah framed by the outline of the Two Tablets of the Law. Along the perimeter of the base is the (Hebrew)

inscription "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). The second shell casing also bears the outline of the Two Tablets of the Law, but inside this is an illustration of the Dome of the Rock, and inscribed along the perimeter of the base are the words (in Hebrew) "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4).

Height: 27.5 cm. Good condition. Blemishes.