Hanukkah lamp, gilt bronze, Italy? 1800-1900.

Made in four parts (backplate, two sides and shallow front) held together by pins. The sides are cast with volutes, and the back is solid cast with scriollwork gable and a relief inscription in Hebrew (much rubbed) plus an undercornice with foliage which frames a plain shield. The front is cast with a second relief inscription, also in Hebrew, and resting on top of this are eight lamps, all made in one. There is a shammash (servitor light) on the top left hand side of the backplate and there is a screw hole on the opposite side for an additional servitor light. The Hebrew inscription on the back plate is the prayer beginning Hanerot Halalu...,We kindle these lights on account of the miracles, the deliverances and the wonders which thou didst work for our fathers, by means of thy holy priests...) which is recited immediately after the blessing after the Hanukkah service, while the lamps are being lit. The inscription on the front plate, below the lamps, is an Halakic text on Hanukkah lamps.

Dr W.L. Hildburgh Bequest

The inscriptions on the relied decoration are very badly rubbed, and in the case of the former barely legible. The cast was either one taken at the end of a run of castings or was, more likely, a recasting from an already badly rubbed original. (ref M..Keen, Jewish Ceremonial Art pg 41)

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It celebrates the victory of Judas Maccabeus over the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC. This winter festival lasts eight days and an extra flame is lit for each night of the festival.

M.420-1956