Early Tower-Shaped Spicebox – Adorned with Miniature Figures – Germany...
Early Tower-Shaped Spicebox – Adorned with Miniature Figures – Germany and Mulhouse (Milhusa / Mühlhausen), Alsace, Second Half of the 18th Century and Earlier
Silver, cast, turned, pierced, and engraved; gilt
Hallmarks (marked on base only): · The municipal mark of the city of Mulhouse, in use during the 17th and 18th centuries; · Maker's mark, the initials "IIK" – Johann Jacob Kielmann (1728-1819, certified silversmith from 1756).
Havdalah spicebox designed in the form of a multi-tiered tower, with balconies, flags, arches, and other apertures and openwork, in various forms and patterns. Cubic spice compartment, pierced on three sides with an openwork lattice pattern with an architectonic column in the middle; and on the front face with three small windows above a large, hinged door to be opened and closed. The door has a handle and can be locked by means of a key attached to a small dead bolt. Standing on the balcony above the spice compartment, at the corners, are four miniature male figures: two are wearing round hats; of these, one wields a small sledgehammer-like implement while the other blows a "shofar" (or some other type of horn); the other two wear contemporary hats (their hands are missing). Another balcony has four flags rising up from its corners. This balcony is surmounted by a belfry and bell chamber (with no bell) topped with a tall, domed, shingled roof supported by fancy columns. The roof is in turn surmounted by a gilt ornament supporting a flag. The shaft of the spicebox is in the form of a three-handled pitcher; the handles are fashioned in a vegetal pattern and are surmounted by bird heads. The dome-shaped base is adorned with floral patterns and rocailles.
The spicebox ("Hadas") presented here comprises silver elements dating from different periods. It appears that the upper, tower-shaped section was created in Germany in the late 17th or early 18th century. The pitcher-shaped shaft is earlier, and is dated to ca. 1620-1640. The base – the part bearing the silver mark from Mulhouse – is dated to the late decades of the 18th century. It assumed its present form sometime in the 19th century, at which time the gilt was restored to its various parts.
As to the significance of the miniature figures standing in the corners of the balcony, in the estimation of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland, where the item was on display for many years, they are likely meant to represent a synagogue attendant or manager (shamash or gabay), who would go from house to house in the Jewish neighborhood and knock on the doors with an instrument resembling a miniature sledgehammer (known in Yiddish as a "shul-klapper") in order to awaken the residents for morning synagogue services.
Height: 34.5 cm. Diameter at base: approx. 9 cm. Uppermost flag not original. Unclear inscriptions engraved on bottom of base. The hands of two of the figures are missing.
Reference: Katia Guth-Dreyfus (ed.), Juden im Elsass: Jüdisches Museum der Schweiz, Schweizerisches Museum für Volkskunde: Ausstellung 1992-1993, Basel, Switzerland, 1992. Exhibition catalogue, item no. 84, illustrated on p.23, described in p. 53.
Exhibitions:
1. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 1106.
2. Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1038.
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).
Bid on this lot
Early Tower-Shaped Spicebox – Adorned with Miniature Figures – Germany and Mulhouse (Milhusa / Mühlhausen), Alsace, Second Half of the 18th Century and Earlier
Silver, cast, turned, pierced, and engraved; gilt
Hallmarks (marked on base only): · The municipal mark of the city of Mulhouse, in use during the 17th and 18th centuries; · Maker's mark, the initials "IIK" – Johann Jacob Kielmann (1728-1819, certified silversmith from 1756).
Havdalah spicebox designed in the form of a multi-tiered tower, with balconies, flags, arches, and other apertures and openwork, in various forms and patterns. Cubic spice compartment, pierced on three sides with an openwork lattice pattern with an architectonic column in the middle; and on the front face with three small windows above a large, hinged door to be opened and closed. The door has a handle and can be locked by means of a key attached to a small dead bolt. Standing on the balcony above the spice compartment, at the corners, are four miniature male figures: two are wearing round hats; of these, one wields a small sledgehammer-like implement while the other blows a "shofar" (or some other type of horn); the other two wear contemporary hats (their hands are missing). Another balcony has four flags rising up from its corners. This balcony is surmounted by a belfry and bell chamber (with no bell) topped with a tall, domed, shingled roof supported by fancy columns. The roof is in turn surmounted by a gilt ornament supporting a flag. The shaft of the spicebox is in the form of a three-handled pitcher; the handles are fashioned in a vegetal pattern and are surmounted by bird heads. The dome-shaped base is adorned with floral patterns and rocailles.
The spicebox ("Hadas") presented here comprises silver elements dating from different periods. It appears that the upper, tower-shaped section was created in Germany in the late 17th or early 18th century. The pitcher-shaped shaft is earlier, and is dated to ca. 1620-1640. The base – the part bearing the silver mark from Mulhouse – is dated to the late decades of the 18th century. It assumed its present form sometime in the 19th century, at which time the gilt was restored to its various parts.
As to the significance of the miniature figures standing in the corners of the balcony, in the estimation of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland, where the item was on display for many years, they are likely meant to represent a synagogue attendant or manager (shamash or gabay), who would go from house to house in the Jewish neighborhood and knock on the doors with an instrument resembling a miniature sledgehammer (known in Yiddish as a "shul-klapper") in order to awaken the residents for morning synagogue services.
Height: 34.5 cm. Diameter at base: approx. 9 cm. Uppermost flag not original. Unclear inscriptions engraved on bottom of base. The hands of two of the figures are missing.
Reference: Katia Guth-Dreyfus (ed.), Juden im Elsass: Jüdisches Museum der Schweiz, Schweizerisches Museum für Volkskunde: Ausstellung 1992-1993, Basel, Switzerland, 1992. Exhibition catalogue, item no. 84, illustrated on p.23, described in p. 53.
Exhibitions:
1. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 1106.
2. Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1038.
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).
