IMPORTANT SILVER HANGING SABBATH LAMP Venice, before 1811

BRASS HANGING SABBATH LAMP Cochin, India, ca. 1900

From top: cast hook from which hangs cast double dolphin element; crown element wtih trefoils and band with geometric bosses suspended from central cast ornamented bar; cast turned shaft with oval lower element chased with foliage, from which hangs another cast turned element attached to large faceted bowl, embossed with matching foliage, with lobed central section, raised concave edges; below, short turned shaft with small bowl, similarly ornamented; beneath this, ovoid fruit form, embossed. Each section marked (Donaver-Dabbene no.72 p.73). H: 724mm. The dolphin element, which is unmarked, may not be original

Silver Sabbath lamps of this type were used by both Sephardi and Ashkenazi families. The form is based on the medieval German bronze Sabbath lamp, known as the “Judenstern,” which has a star-form oil container. Many Sephardi lamps were made with oil containers in bowl form. In Venice, where Jews of both rites lived, an elegant lamp such as this could have been used in either community. See Kayser, p. 73; and Barnett, no. 379