Havdalah Candleholder and Spicebox Compendium – Adorned with Human Figures – Probably Germany, Late 19th Century / ...

Havdalah Candleholder and Spicebox Compendium – Adorned with Human Figures – Probably Germany, Late 19th Century / Ca. 1900

Silver, cut, cast, soldered, and engraved.
Hallmarks: · Partial mark (in form of a crown?); · Blurred maker's mark, with initials – "FD/--" [?]. Probably false hallmarks, perhaps an imitation of 18th century marks.
Four tall, cylindrical rods soldered onto a square base. A ring whose purpose is to support the havdalah candle is positioned toward the top. The four rods are threaded through four designated holes in the rim of the ring, allowing the height of the ring to be adjusted upward and downward. At the upper ends of the rods are flower-shaped nuts that serve as stoppers for the upward motion of the ring. The spicebox – also serving as a base for the rods and adorned with floral and vegetal patterns – is in the form of a shallow drawer that can be pulled in and out; it is divided into four compartments. Soldered onto the top of the spicebox is a square ornament enclosed within a fancy, serrated fence. Standing atop the four corners of the fence are four miniature human figures, inclined inward and holding an assortment of objects: a "shofar" (ram’s horn); a large, braided havdalah candle; a spicebox (in the form of an open box with four compartments); and a wine cup.
The entire compendium is supported on top of a dome-shaped base surmounted by a short leg. The spicebox alone may be of earlier origin than the other elements in the compendium – the base and the miniature human figures – which may have been added at a later stage.

Height: 21 cm. Diameter at base: 9 cm. Overall good condition. Fractures and blemishes to spicebox. Loose screw connections. Human figures partly bent out of shape.

For similar items, after which the present compendium was presumably modeled, see: Stephen S. Kayser (ed.), Jewish Ceremonial Art: Philadelphia, 1959, item no. 96; Yeshiva University Museum, New York, item no. 1986.167; Sotheby’s, New York, May 28, 1986, lot no. 289.
Exhibitions:
1. Possibly, London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 1125.
2. Glasgow, Festival of Jewish Arts Exhibition, McLellan Galleries, 1951, item no. 250.
3. Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1036.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).