Hanukkah lamp created by Johann Georg Balthasar Weilbach. Nördlingen, southern Germany, 1786-1819.
Pewter, cast and engraved (marked with maker’s mark, i.e., with inscription “G. B. Weilbach”: Johann Georg Balthasar Weilbach, active Nördlingen, late decades of 18th century and early 19th century; and with mark bearing image of eagle).
Hanukkah lamp shaped like a sofa with tall armrests, supported on a tall pair of legs. The back plate is perforated with three openings: two ovals and a heart shape. Delicately engraved patterns lining and conforming with borders of back plate and its perforations. These patterns include two heads of birds of prey in the upper margins; a flame rising from the top edge of the heart shape; and two v-shaped braided rope patterns with flower patterns at their bottom junctions. The row of cast oil fonts is positioned above the drip pan which, at its front right corner, bears an eavestrough-like spout for draining off the excess oil. Servant light, held in place atop dedicated “shelf, ” and equipped with long handle, curved at the end.
An identical Hanukkah lamp created by the same craftsman is part of the collection of the Jewish Museum, New York (Item F1020). See: Susan Braunstein, “Five Centuries of Hanukkah Lamps, No. 222. The maker’s mark engraved by Johann G. B. Weilbach on this particular Hanukkah lamp differs from Weilbach’s maker’s mark documented by Hintze (1928), Vol. 6, item nos. 710-711.
Height: 19 cm. Width: 17 cm. Overall good condition. Few stains. Old soldering repairs. Remnants of glue around spout. Legs warped and fractured.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
