Unique Silver Hanukkah Lamp – Eastern Europe, 18th/19th Century

Hanukkah lamp. [Eastern Europe, presumably Poland, late 18th or early 19th century].

Silver, repoussé, pierced and cut (unmarked); silver, cast.

The center of the backplate is decorated with a convex shield featuring a repoussé seven-branched menorah. On either side are pairs of architectural columns adorned with grape clusters, supporting vases with flowers. Flanking the columns are repoussé decorations of peacocks and parrots. A small repoussé plaque bearing the inscription "Nes Hanukkah" (Hanukkah Miracle) is affixed at the top of the backplate. Side panels bear matching decorations.

The base of the lamp is hollow, and affixed with a row of oil fonts shaped like fish with gaping mouths; the front of the base is pierced with eight oval openings aligned with the fonts. A hinged door at the back is secured by a hook. Two large birds are screwed into either end of the base's front. The lamp stands on four outward-curving animal-shaped feet.

This Hanukkah lamp is documented and illustrated in the Jüdisches Lexikon (Berlin, 1930), under the entry Menora, vol. 4a, plate CXXII (there described as "Altwiener Arbeit" – Old Viennese work, though it was likely made in Poland). In the illustration, the servant light can be seen attached to the left panel, as well as the holes mentioned below.

Provenance: Kedem, Auction 20, December 19, 2011, Lot 45; Sotheby's, December 17, 2013, Lot 41.