Brass Box – Offering of First Fruits – "Bezalel"

A brass box created at "Bezalel". Jerusalem, [1910s].
Brass, with hammered and etched decorations. Marked: "Bezalel Yerushalem".
A depiction of the procession offering the first fruits (Bikurim), and the verse "Kumu VeNa'ale LeZion el Hashem Eloheinu" ["Let us go up to Zion to the Lord our G-od; Jermaiah 31:5] appear on the lid, within a frame depicting the seven species. The image of the procession - women, men and children marching with musical instruments and animals – is designed using a delicate combination of low relief on an etched background. Side panels are decorated with a vegetal pattern. On the front panel – the Hebrew inscription "Hava'at Bikurim Bezalel Yerushalem" ["First Fruits offering, Bezalel Jerusalem"], within a round frame. The inner side is covered with wood.
Height: 4.5 cm, width 18.8 cm, depth: 10.9 cm. Good condition.
See:
1. Early Israeli Arts and Crafts Bezalel Treasures from the Alan B. Slifka Collection in the Israel Museum, Chaya Benjamin, 2008. p. 36 (photographed).
2. Bezalel by Schatz, exhibition catalogue. Jerusalem, 1983, p. 53. Item no. 619.