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 tower-shaped type. It is supported by three legs in the form of vines that overlap onto a circular base. It has a baluster stem. The cylindrical container with a tiny door, tapered in the middle, is decorated with an engraved vine motif. The edges are adorned with a smooth half-round border, and on the lower part, there are four small bells on hooks. The whole structure is crowned with an arched bell tower, with eagles in the upper corners and a small bell hanging inside. It is covered with a pyramidal roof, ending with a sphere and a spike; the pennant is missing.

The item is marked with the goldsmith's monogram "MCh" (in cyrillic script); hallmark "O.C. 1888”.

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
Charłap, M. [pełne imię nieznane] (?-?)
Object type
handicrafts
Time of creation / dating
4th quarter of the 19th century
Place of creation
Warszawa (mazovian province)
Technique
cast
punching
printing
Material
silver
gold
Keywords
Copyrights status
the object is not protected by copyright law
Owner
Przypkowscy Museum in Jędrzejów
Identification number
MPJ/SH/4546