Objects

Besamim box

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. The stem has a prominent thickening in the form of a flattened ball. The herb container is filigree, hexagonal, equipped with a door and topped with a cylindrical pedestal decorated with an oblique, knurled ornament. It has a conical roof with a ball at the top, a spire and a gilded flag.

The item was purchased for the collection of the Museum of Goldsmithing Art (a branch of the Vistula Museum in Kazimierz Dolny) in 1987.

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Information about the object
Author / creator
Szyldberg, R. [pierwsze imię nieznane] Hersz (?-?)
Object type
handicrafts
Place of creation
Warszawa (mazovian province)
Technique
forging
filigree
Material
silver
Keywords
Copyrights status
the object is not protected by copyright law
Owner
Goldsmithing Art Museum. Branch of Nadwiślańskie Museum in Kazimierz Dolny
Identification number
MSZK/506