Spice box. Netherlands. first half of the seventeenth century, silver.

A silver spice box in the form of a square tower mounted upon a square base supported by four ball feet. The tower itself is pierced with Gothic tracery and surmounted by a spire which is engraved in imitation of tiling. At the point where the tower and spire join there is an applied border, cast and pierced with foliage and churubs heads. There are small turrrets, at each corner, and all four turrets, together with the central spire terminate in a silver ball. On one side of the tower is a small door for the introduction of the spices.

Dr W.L. Hildburgh Bequest

Jewish Worship
Judaism is the oldest religion in the world to worship the one God.World Jewry has three main groups: Sephardic, Askenazic and Mizrahi (the Jews who never left the Middle East). All are bound together by a common history and their adherence to the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) and the Talmud (a compendium of rabbinic law and lore).

Jewish religious traditions and rituals centre on the home, the community and the synagogue. Central to Judaism is the observance of the Sabbath. This is a holy day, set apart from the rest of the working week. It begins one hour before sunset on Friday and ends on Saturday evening when three stars can be seen in the night sky.

The Jewish year revolves around a number of festivals, such as Passover. These originated in ancient times and embody multiple layers of meaning, from agricultural festivals to historical events.

This spice container was used in Jewish worship, during the Havdalah ceremony that marks the end of the Sabbath, the holy day of rest. The spices are blessed and the box is passed around for all to smell. After the ceremony, the new week starts.

M.408-1956