Bidspirit auction | Decorated Passover Plate – Heinrich

Decorated Passover Plate – Heinrich Schwed – Munich, 1924 Decorated Passover Plate by Heinrich Schwed. Munich, 1924. Burnished brass. A  plate with a round matzah in the center and quotes from the Passover Haggadah around it – “Ha Lechma Aniya” and “Ma Nishatna Nahala Haze”, inside a round medallion. The medallion is set in the center of a star with four points and additional inscriptions: “Shel Pesach”, “Vakdush Baruch Hu Metsilnu Midam”, “Chad Gadya, Chad Gadya” and “La Shana Ba’a Yerushalayim”. Around the star are four shields; two of them show the figures of the four sons mentioned in the Haggadah. The third shield shows Moses, surrounded by a verse from the Song of the Sea – “I will sing to the Lord, for He is proud” – and at his feet the inscription “Moses, his servant.” The fourth shield depicts the young David, with a verse from the Psalms beside him – “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them” – and at his feet the inscription “David”. At the base of these two shields are additional quotes from the Haggadah poems, “And it came to pass at midnight” and “For it is pleasing to Him, for it is fitting for Him.” The rim of the plate is decorated with floral and geometric motifs. The number 17 is engraved on the back of the plate. The plate is signed by the artist: “Chaim ben Mordechai Halevi”; “Munich 1924, H. Schwed” Heinrich Schwed (1880-1962), born in Reichmannsdorf, Germany. In 1924, he established a trading house in Munich “for handicrafts” and a workshop for the production of such objects. Schwed continued to create decorated plates, advertising signs, and other objects until 1937, when the business was confiscated by the Nazi authorities and he himself left Germany with his family and found refuge in Argentina. Diameter: 11 cm