Miniature Sabbath Lamp – Arnoldus van Geffen – Amsterdam, Mid-18th Century

Miniature Sabbath Lamp – Arnoldus van Geffen – Amsterdam, Mid-18th Century
Miniature Sabbath lamp made by silversmith Arnoldus van Geffen. Amsterdam, mid-18th century.
Cast silver (marked with maker's mark, Amsterdam city mark, year mark and later tax mark).
Miniature Sabbath lamp of a design characteristic of Dutch Jewish households. Consists of a suspension hook, a crown-shaped ornament, an upper weight, an oil pan with seven fonts, a drip pan, and a bud-shaped lower weight.
The silversmith Arnoldus van Geffen (active in Amsterdam, 1728-69) was renowned for the charmingly attractive miniature silver objects he created. The practice of collecting such silver miniatures reached the peak of its popularity in the first half of the 18th century, when wealthy collectors would take pride in displaying in their homes entire dollhouses made of silver, fully equipped with furniture, dinnerware, and all manner of other accessories, precisely modeled down to the finest detail. Of the silversmiths specializing in miniatures active in the Netherlands in those years, van Geffen was possibly the most accomplished and acclaimed.
Length: 23 cm.
For a similar lamp, see Sotheby's auction, Dec. 19, 2018, lot no. 26.