Tower-Shaped Spicebox – Frankfurt, First Half of the 18th Century – Attributed to the Silversmith Jeremias Zobel

Spicebox, possibly by silversmith Jeremias Zobel. Frankfurt am Main, [first half of the 18th century].

Silver, repoussé, pierced and engraved (central section and base marked with an 18th-century Frankfurt city mark depicting an eagle, and with an additional mark – possibly a "12" fineness mark, or the initials IZ within an oval frame, attributed to silversmith Jeremias Zobel; see below).

A finely crafted Havdalah spicebox, a rare example of 18th-century Judaica from Frankfurt. Designed in the form of a tower with a tall, pointed spire. Constructed in four sections:

1. A tall, pointed hexagonal spire, with tile-like decoration, topped with a flag-bearing finial. The spire serves a removable lid and is affixed to the top of the spice compartment by means of a detachable silver rod.

2. The central section comprises a cylindrical spice container, pierced with three different floral motifs enclosed in oval frames, flanked by additional foliate ornaments. The upper and lower edges feature a decorative balustrade with repeating trefoil motifs, surmounted by a hexagonal belfry-like structure, ornamented with brickwork motif and pierced with arched windows and circular openings.

3-4. A stepped, dome-shaped circular base, to which is soldered a small rod terminating in a bolt; with a short, decorated stem.

The silver marks on this piece closely resemble those associated with the Frankfurt silversmith Jeremias Zobel (1670-1741), a certified master silversmith from 1701. Several pieces of Judaica by Zobel from the first half of the 18th century are known, including two Havdalah sets: a candleholder with a stem designed as a miniature human figure, listed in Harburger, P160-263, and a spicebox and candleholder compendium adorned with four miniature figures (Jewish Museum, New York, F3661): three pairs of Torah finials (Jewish Museum, New York, F3685; Historisches Museum Frankfurt, X51:11v-w; Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, 47.25); and at least one Torah shield (Harburger, P160-632).

Notably, both Rosenberg (vol. 2, no. 2050) and Scheffler (Hessen, no. 344) record Zobel’s mark as comprising the initials IZ separated by a small dot or star, while the present piece bears only the letters IZ without any intervening symbol. Nevertheless, a nearly identical mark is recorded by Theodor Harburger in 1928, on a Havdalah candleholder from the Otto Bernheimer collection in Munich (P160a-129, Munich, leaf 71).

Height: 25 cm. Base diameter: 7 cm. Overall good condition. Old soldering repairs. Minor dents. Some rivets missing. Minor cracks to the railing ornamentation.

Bibliography

• Rafi Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York, 1996, pp. 50, 186, 189.

• Theodor Harburger, Die Inventarisation jüdischer Kunst- und Kulturdenkmäler in Bayern, Fürth: Jüdisches Museum Franken, 1998, pp. 18, 395, 445.

• Michele Klein, "The Havdalah Candle-holder", Ars Judaica, 2012, pp. 31-54.

• Vivian B. Mann, "The Golden Age of Jewish Ceremonial Art in Frankfurt: Metalwork of the Eighteenth Century", Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 31 (1986), pp. 389-403.

• Marc Rosenberg, Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, vol. 2 (1922-1928), no. 2050.

• Wolfgang Scheffler, Goldschmiede Hessens: Daten, Werke, Zeichen, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976, no. 344.