Hanukkah lamp. The Netherlands, [18th or 19th century].
Brass, cast; brass sheet, repoussé.
This Hanukkah lamp represents a variation on a Dutch type, adorned with floral patterns, in use among the community of Jews of Portuguese extraction (see following item). But the present lamp differs from the others insofar as the ornaments flanking the central ornament on either side are taller, and the central ornament looks different. The row of oil fonts is attached to the front of the bottom of the back plate. Also attached to the back plate, underneath the row of oil fonts, is a broad drip pan, supported by four legs.
An identical Hanukkah lamp is part of the collection of the Jewish Museum, New York (item F 4292). For a similar Hanukkah lamp (another variation on the floral-pattern design), see: The Jewish Museum, Amsterdam, Item M003707.

Maximal height: 17 cm. Maximal width: 26 cm. Good condition. Servant light missing.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Hanukkah lamp. The Netherlands, possibly Amsterdam, [19th or early 20th century].
Brass, cast and etched.
Hanukkah lamp of a type in use among the Dutch community of Jews of Portuguese extraction. The oldest known example of this type has been dated to 1629-1630. The central ornament of the back plate, bearing the servant light and central inscription, is flanked on either side by a pair of fleur-de-lis ornaments. The central inscription, appearing inside a rectangular frame, reads (Hebrew): “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light” (Proverbs, 6:23). Etched onto the lower border of the back plate is the following inscription, in Latin letters: “Present van Emanuel v. Abr. Querido” [“Gift of Emanuel ben Abraham Querido”]. Apparently, the lamp was gifted by Emanuel Querido, possibly to a synagogue.
The surname Querido relates to a Sephardi Jewish family of Portuguese extraction. Several members of this family are known to have lived in Amsterdam and were active there; in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of people bearing either the name “Emanuel Querido” or “Emanuel Abraham Querido” lived in the city, but we were unable to identify the precise individual referred to in the above inscription.

Maximal height: 22.5 cm. Maximal width: 29 cm. Good condition.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Hanukkah lamp. Sefrou, Morocco [19th or early 20th century].
Cast brass.
Back plate consisting of two separate pieces – both decorated in openwork – connected to one another with hinges and pins. At the top of the bottom section (at the center of the back plate in its entirety) is a large four-petaled flower. The servant light is screwed onto the upper petal. The large flower is encircled by four smaller but identically-shaped flowers, two near the bottom section and two near the top. Lining the bottom of the back plate is a row of five architectonic horseshoe arches. An additional horseshoe arch, tapered at the top, appears in the middle upper part of the upper section of the back plate. At the very top is a suspension ring.
For comparison, see: Mordechai Narkiss, The Hanukkah Lamp, 1939, item 153; Chaya Benjamin, North African Lights, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2003, English-language edition, catalogue nos. 33, 35.

Height: 24 cm. Maximal width: 21 cm. No side panels. Row of oil fonts may have been taken from a different Hanukkah lamp. Servant light may have been exchanged.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.