Objects

Besamim box

Besamim box, or spice tower (Hebrew: besamim)

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. The scent of the herbs is symbolically meant to invigorate the body that has been left by the additional Shabbat soul (Hebrew: neshamah yeteirah) and helps believers cope with the challenges of the upcoming week.

The forms of spice towers have changed over different periods but with the preservation of traditional designs. They took the shape of towers, buildings, boxes, etc.

The besamim box from the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów represents the most common tower-shaped type. It is supported by a circular base, has a baluster stem, a filigree cubic container with a tiny door, four small bells on the lower corners on hooks, four pennants on the upper corners, and is topped with a cone-shaped roof with a sphere and pennant.

The item is marked. On the base, there is a hallmark "O.C. 1884," "84"; rectangular signature mark; on the pennant, there is a signature "A.K.," "M.C. 1875," "84"; on the tiny door, there are rectangular and round signature marks with an eagle.

The besamim box was acquired for the collection of the Jędrzejów museum from Piotr Maciej Przypkowski.

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Information about the object
Author / creator
A.K.
Object type
handicrafts
Time of creation / dating
3rd quarter of the 19th century
Place of creation
unknown
Technique
punching
filigree
Material
silver
gold
Keywords
Copyrights status
the object is not protected by copyright law
Owner
Przypkowscy Museum in Jędrzejów
Identification number
MPJ/SH/4542