Elegantly Filigreed Havdalah Spicebox – Probably Lvov (Lviv), Galicia, Late 18th or Early 19th Century

Elegantly Filigreed Havdalah Spicebox – Probably Lvov (Lviv), Galicia, Late 18th or Early 19th Century

Silver (unmarked), cut; filigree; gilt.
Belltower-shaped havdalah spicebox ("Hadas"); high-quality filigree work. Adorned with symmetrical floral (rosette) and vegetal patterns. The square spice compartment, housing a bell, is encompassed by a square railing; Mounted on each of the four corners of the railing are slender, spiraling columns surmounted by masts bearing (gilt) double-tongued flags, and flowers. Openings in the form of double-arched windows appear on all four sides of the upper compartment (which may have originally housed the bell). The spire is surmounted by a pair of spherical filigreed ornaments separated by a mast bearing an additional (gilt) double-tongued flag. Tower supported by a square pyramidal base with four spherical legs.

Height: 30 cm. Width at base: 6 cm. Flower-shaped ornaments missing; open fractures to filigree. One missing flag. Old soldering repairs.

For comparison, see: Chaya Benjamin and Marilyn Gold Koolik, Towers of Spices: The Tower-Shape Tradition in havdalah Spiceboxes (exhibition catalogue), The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, item nos. 27, 45, and 46; The Israel Museum Collection, item nos. B50.02.0915 and B50.02.1147.

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. Abba and Shoshana "Suzy" Eban, gifted by Peter Castle on the occasion of their silver (25th) wedding anniversary.
5. Heirs of Peter Charles Castle.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).