Objects

Weekly Jewish holiday – Shabbat – concludes on Saturday evening with the Havdalah ceremony, which means "separation" in Hebrew. One of the ritual acts accompanying the ceremony is the smelling of fragrant roots, herbs, or crushed rose petals. They are placed in a decorative spice tower over which a blessing is recited (M. Goldstein, K. Dresdner, Kultura i sztuka ludu żydowskiego na ziemiach polskich, Lwów 1935, pp. 40–41). The scent of the herbs is symbolically meant to invigorate the body that has been left by the additional Shabbat soul (Hebrew: neshamah yeteirah). It is also believed to help the faithful cope with the hardships of the coming week. The forms of spice towers have changed over different periods but with the preservation of traditional designs - – they usually had the shape of towers, buildings or boxes.

The besamim box in the form of a tower from the collection of the Vistula Museum in Kazimierz Dolny is set on a circular, profiled base. It has a baluster-shaped stem. The herb container is in the shape of a cube with filigree walls and a door decorated with an ornament of small flowers. In the lower corners, there are four bells placed on circular hooks, there are four rotating flags in the upper corners. The container is covered with a conical roof with a ball and a spike. There is no flag on the spire.

The item was purchased for the collection of the Museum of Goldsmithing Art (a branch of the Vistula Museum in Kazimierz Dolny) in 1984.