PEWTER CHARITY BOX. Denmark, 1901.

Art-Nouveau container in form of stylized house, with depictions of door on front and back, and roof with coin slot. Inscriptions across roof, in Danish: “To the Society for the Care of the Sick;” on sides, in Hebrew and Danish, “Happy is he who considers the poor” (Psalms 41:2). On base, removeable disc marked with makers’ initials. H: 115mm.

This unusual charity box was created to replace the older containers of an elite Bikur Cholim Society, Tiferes Jedidim, which had been established in Copenhagen in 1821. A limited number were manufactured. Two Jewish Danish artists cooperated in the design: Siegfried Wagner (1878-1952) who was a respected Danish sculptor, known for his work with Jewish themes. and Mogens Ballin (1872 - 1914), a post-Modernist painter, who worked in Paris and Copenhagen. See EJ III: 596, 612; and see article, Mogens Ballin’s Workstatt, in Dekorativ Kust, Munich, April, 1902, pp. 244 - 250; Weilbach’s Kunsternerleksikon, Denmark, 1947, vol. I, pp 59 - 60 (Ballin); Vol III, 458 - 459 (Wagner.) This charity box is included in the Steinhardt Collection, see Grossman p. 153. Another example of this charity box was sold at Christies, Judaica, June 19 , 1991, Lot 138