Hanging Silver Sabbath Lamp by Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra, the First Jewish Silversmith in England – London, 1726

Hanging lamp for Sabbath and festivals, produced by silversmith Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra (also, de Oliveira). London, 1726.

Silver, cast, pierced, chased and repoussé; fully marked with English duty mark, fineness mark, date-letter L (1726) and maker's mark – a crowned AO monogram (Grimwade, No. 70); some parts marked with later Dutch import mark (in use since 1953; marks are detailed below).

An exceptionally fine Judaica object of notable rarity and importance, distinguished by a solid and well documented provenance dating back to 1882; one of only two hanging Sabbath lamps produced by the famed silversmith de Oliveyra (the other lamp – London, 1734 – is found in the collection of the Jewish Museum of London); one of the few Judaica objects by de Oliveyra to remain in private hands, and one of just a few silver hanging Sabbath lamps produced in London, and indeed in England, in the 18th century.

Physical Description and Hallmarks

Hanging Sabbath and festival lamp, of a type used by Jews of Spanish-Portuguese descent, primarily in the Netherlands. The lamp is composed of seven parts, six of which conform to the classic model of Dutch hanging Sabbath lamps:

1. A large suspension hook, terminating in a pear-shaped ornament.

2. A round, open crown ornament, decorated with geometric patterns, its upper edge undulating, surmounted by eight flower shaped ornaments. A square silver rod is soldered at the center of the crown, fitted with suspension rings.

3. A double-headed eagle ornament, clasping a stylized vegetal motif in its talons.

4. A slightly flattened spherical spacer, serving as a reflector.

5. A large oil bowl in the shape of a seven-pointed star, with a tall central stem (screwed in). At the points are wick holders shaped as curved, rounded tabs with wide splits.

6. A deep, circular drip pan, with a central stem (soldered).

7. A heavy, acorn-shaped weight. Most parts of the lamp are fitted with round rings for suspension, allowing the components to be hung one beneath the other using S-shaped silver hooks.

Besides the present lamp, one other Sabbath lamp by Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra is known, produced in London in 1734, currently part of the collection of the Jewish Museum of London (item JM 373; this lamp was purchased by the museum in 1952 and is on permanent exhibit). The two lamps are highly similar, both in overall structure and in design: the suspension hooks of the two lamps are nearly identical; the crown of the 1726 lamp closely resembles that of the 1734 lamp, except that the latter is also supplemented by four fleur-de-lis ornaments; the double-headed eagle is absent from the 1734 lamp and is unique to the present one (see below); the reflector of the 1726 lamp is shaped somewhat differently than that of the 1734 lamp; the oil bowl is designed identically in both lamps, although the stem in the 1726 lamp appears to be longer; the wick holders in the 1726 lamp are identical to those of the 1734 lamp, and most likely were produced and installed in both lamps by de Oliveyra himself; and finally, the drip pan and bottom weight are identically designed in both lamps.

A prominent difference between the two lamps is the double-headed eagle ornament, which does not appear in the 1734 lamp and is unique to the present lamp. In his study "Anglo-Jewish Silver", Arthur Grimwade notes that Richard Barnett – of the British Museum, the Jewish Historical Society of England, and editor of the Jewish Museum of London catalogue – posited that this ornament may indicate that the lamp was produced for Baron Diego (Moshe) López Pereira d'Aguilar, a merchant and descendant of a Marrano family from Portugal who settled in London in 1757, becoming a central figure in the local Spanish-Portuguese community. However, the year the lamp was produced, d'Aguilar was living in Vienna, not in London, but perhaps, conjecture Barnett and Grimwade, it was sent to him as a gift, with the double-headed eagle representing the Holy Roman Empire (d'Aguilar was conferred the title of Baron by Emperor Karl VI in 1726). And indeed, this ornament is unusual and does not generally appear in hanging Sabbath lamps of this type.

A double-headed eagle appears sometimes, in various forms, on German Sabbath lamps ("Judenstern") made of brass. However, as a separate component it is documented only on a few silver Sabbath lamps. These include an 18th-century lamp from Hamburg (formerly in the Zagayski collection); a 19th-century German lamp, in which both the ornament and suspension hook bear the marks of Thomas Whipham & Charles Wright of London, ca. 1760; and a lamp from London produced by Thomas Paine Dexter in 1812.

In his "Memorbook", M.H. Gans notes that the eagle is one of the symbols of the "Baron d'Aguilas", apparently referring to d'Aguilar (p. 161). However, the coat of arms of the d'Aguilar family includes a regular eagle, not a double-headed one.

Suspension hook marked with all four London hallmarks listed above; crown's inner rod marked with Dutch import mark; double-headed eagle marked with fineness mark and later Dutch import mark; reflector marked twice with maker's mark; oil bowl marked on interior with all five hallmarks listed above and central stem marked with maker's mark, fineness mark and Dutch import mark; drip pan marked with all four London hallmarks listed above; the weight appears to be unmarked.

Hanging Sabbath Lamps: Background, Rarity and Comparisons

Hanging Sabbath lamps were widely used in many Jewish communities – primarily in European countries such as Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and France (though also in Yemen). Illustrations depicting such lamps already appear in medieval Hebrew manuscripts, later in 16th- and 17th-century woodcuts, paintings and engravings depicting Jewish customs, and in paintings and prints from the 18th and 19th centuries. These lamps were crafted in a variety of materials and designs, reflecting the period, place, and financial means of their owners. Over the centuries, distinct models emerged, each characteristic of a particular country of origin.

The principal models include the German Sabbath lamps later known as "Judenstern"; the multi-spouted Italian lamps; and the Dutch hanging lamps of the above- described form, featuring a seven-pointed star-shaped oil bowl. Each of these types is represented by numerous examples made of cast and/or repoussé bronze, brass, copper, and – in the Dutch type – occasionally tin, and only rarely silver.

The first silver hanging Sabbath lamps were likely produced in Germany (Frankfurt am Main) no earlier than the late 17th century. The majority of surviving silver pieces date from the 18th century and originate from four primary countries: Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and England.

Of all known 18th-century hanging Sabbath lamps, the majority – numbering many dozens – are made of brass or bronze. A few Dutch examples are made of tin (some of them incomplete), and only a few dozen are made of silver.

Among the 18th-century silver lamps, only 23 of the Spanish-Portuguese type are known: 19 were produced in the Netherlands (not all fully intact), and just four were produced in England. This distribution clearly illustrates the overall rarity of 18th-century hanging Sabbath lamps made of silver, and even more strikingly the extreme rarity of English examples.

The four known 18th-century silver Sabbath lamps produced in London are as follows, in chronological order:

1. A lamp by William Spackmann, 1722 (cited in Grimwade's study).

2. The present lamp, by Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra, 1726.

3. Another lamp by Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra, 1734 (Jewish Museum London).

4. A lamp by silversmith Hester Bateman, 1781 (auctioned at Christie's in 1963 or 1964).

It should be noted that 19th-century English silver Sabbath lamps are also rare, with only two known examples: one produced by Thomas Paine Dexter, London, 1812 (private collection, Zurich); and another by Samuel Hennell, London, 1813 (currently in the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, B68.0030, 117/156).

Noteworthy are two other silver hanging Sabbath lamps produced in Amsterdam in the mid-18th century (in 1752 and 1753): in both, the upper crown ornament bears London hallmarks. It may be presumed that these lamps were brought from Amsterdam to London by families of Spanish-Portuguese origin, and that following the loss of the original crown, it was replaced with a new one made by a local silversmith.

Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra's Lamp of 1726: History, Research and Provenance

The present lamp was studied by Arthur G. Grimwade (1913-2002), an antiquarian and renowned expert on silverwork. It is documented in his important study "Anglo-Jewish Silver", published in 1955 (see bibliography). Grimwade devoted considerable attention to this object, successfully tracing its provenance back to the 19th century and reconstructing its ownership history in detail.

According to Grimwade’s research, the lamp was first sold at public auction by Christie, Manson & Woods in London in 1882 (Grimwade, presumably in error, gives the date as 1892), as part of the collection of Colonel Arbuthnot of London. In the auction catalogue, the piece is described as an English hanging silver lamp composed of seven parts and topped with a crown. It is not identified as a Jewish object, nor is the silversmith's identity mentioned, and it is erroneously dated to 1746 (the date letter for the year 1746 is "l" [a lowercase L], which may be the source of the error, as the lamp is marked with the date-letter uppercase L). The lamp appears to have been purchased at that auction by the Duveen brothers – art dealers and proprietors of galleries in London, Paris and New York – who subsequently sold it, in 1906, to the American financier and banker John Pierpont Morgan (J. P. Morgan Sr., 1837-1913), whose celebrated collections included art, gems, and books. Upon his death in 1913, the lamp passed to his daughter, Juliet Hamilton (née Pierpont Morgan, 1870-1952), and approximately five months after her death, in January 1953, it was once again offered for sale on public auction, this time by Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York. Grimwade’s study appeared in 1955, as noted above. The image of the lamp included in it was taken from the 1953 auction catalogue and bears a caption attributing the piece to the Pierpont Morgan Collection, New York.

The next owner of the lamp was Mozes Heiman Gans (1917-1987), who in 1977 published it in his monumental work Memorbook, dedicated to the history of the Jews of the Netherlands. Gans published a full-page photograph of the lamp, though he did not indicate the owner's identity; it is therefore unclear whether he acquired the lamp at the 1953 auction or at a later time. In either case, it appears that by the time his book was published he already owned the lamp. From Gans's collection, the lamp was sold to a private collector, in whose possession it has remained until present.

Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra: His Life and Work

Abraham Lopes de Oliveyra was born in Amsterdam in 1657 to a Marrano family of Portuguese origin and died in London in 1750. He was the first and only Jewish silversmith active in London – and indeed, in all of England – and remained so throughout his lifetime.

His father, Jacob, is recorded as a parnas (community leader) of the Spanish-Portuguese congregation in Amsterdam in 1654; Abraham's grandfather, Luis de Oliveyra Lisboa, was a banker in Madrid. Two of Abraham's uncles were sentenced and imprisoned by the Inquisition in Coimbra in 1662; upon their release, they relocated to London and returned openly to Judaism.

De Oliveyra himself reached London for the first time in 1685, apparently after training in silversmithing and engraving in the Netherlands. That same year, he was already employed in cleaning and repairing silver objects and utensils in the Spanish-Portuguese synagogue on Creechurch Lane (which later became the Bevis Marks synagogue). According to his marriage certificate, he was married to Rebecca de Morais in London on October 30, 1697.

He may have lived outside London during the periods 1691-1697 and 1700-1717, possibly returning to his relatives in Amsterdam, as there is no record of him in the official documents of the London community from those years.

De Oliveyra designed engravings for a Spanish adaptation of the Book of Psalms authored by Daniel Israel Lopes Laguna (London, 1720), depicting a smith's workshop and a crown strikingly similar to the one adorning the present lamp.

In 1724 or 1725, he received official authorization to register his mark and produce silverwork in his own workshop – this is the mark found on the present lamp. He was registered again on July 3, 1739, with a differently designed maker's mark.

Among his known Judaica works are approximately eleven pairs of Torah finials, made in the 1720s-1730s for the synagogues of the Jewish communities in London, one or two Torah pointers, the two aforementioned hanging Sabbath lamps, and a handful of other objects. Most of these – except for a few – are now preserved in the Jewish Museum in London and in other museum collections.

In 1737, he also produced the "Lord Mayor's Tray", a silver presentation piece gifted by the Jewish community to the Mayor of London (displayed in a 1994-1995 exhibition in the Israel Museum). For further information, see: Grimwade (1955), pp. 121-123.

Height: 98.5 cm. Maximum width (oil bowl): 22.5 cm. Overall good condition. Minor fractures, warping and old soldering repairs to crown ornament. One wick holder missing from the oil bowl; another affixed with a silver rivet. Small holes to several parts of lamp: top and bottom of reflector, bottom decoration of oil bowl and upper part of weight – possibly as result of old electricity wiring. Some suspension hooks are later additions. The original crown may have been replaced during the 19th century (see 1953 auction catalogue description).

Provenance

1. Colonel Arbuthnot (perhaps Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 1773-1853), London.

2. Auctioned by Christie, Manson & Woods: Catalogue of the Choice Collection of Decorative Objects of Colonel Arbuthnot, London, May 4-5, 1882, Lot 151.

3. The Duveen brothers (art dealers), probably New York.

4. John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York; purchased from the above in 1906.

5. Juliet Hamilton (1870-1952), New York, daughter of the above.

6. Auctioned by Parke-Bernet Galleries: American and English Furniture and Decorations, Comprising Property Collected by the Late Robert Hartshorne..., from the Estates of the Late Walter M. McGee, Juliet P. Hamilton and from Other Owners, New York, January 22-24, 1953, Lot 417 (Hamilton Estate, illustrated on p. 73).

7. Mozes Heiman Gans (1917-1987), Amsterdam; possibly purchased at the abovementioned auction.

8. Private collection.

Bibliography

• Barnett, Richard David, ed. Catalogue of the Permanent and Loan Collections of the Jewish Museum, London. London: Published for the Jewish Museum by Harvey Miller; Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society, [1974], no. 373 and nos. 112, 114-115, 117, 119-120, 163.

• Burman, Rickie et al., Treasures of Jewish Heritage: the Jewish Museum, London. London: Scala, 2006, p. 56.

• Gans, Mozes Heiman. Memorbook: Pictorial History of Dutch Jewry from the Renaissance to 1940. Baarn: Bosch & Keuning, 1977, p. 161.

• Grimwade, A.G. "Anglo-Jewish Silver". Transactions (Jewish Historical Society of England, London) 18 (1953-1955), pp. 113-125.

• Grimwade, A.G. London Goldsmiths 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives, from the Original Registers at Goldsmiths' Hall and Other Sources. 3rd edition. London: Faber and Faber, 1990, pp. 18 and 490 (nos. 70-71).

• Pickford, Ian, ed. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1989 (reprint, 1994), pp. 179, 193.

• Stone, Jonathan. "Anglo-Jewish Silver: An Illegal Mark Discovered". The Antique Collector 56, no. 2 (1985), pp. 64-68.