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© Center for Jewish Art, Photographer: Radovan, Zev, 1991

The kiddush cup is cylindrical and tapers at the bottom.

It is decorated with a wide band containing three oval medallions which are surrounded by an undulating foliate branch. Each medallion contains one of the following holy places: the Western Wall (9248), the Cave of Makhpelah (9250), the Tomb of the Kings of the Dynasty of David (9249) (read clockwise). The appropiate title is inscribed above each place in the medallions.

The central band is surmounted by a band that bears a dedicatory inscription in square filled letters encircling the top of the cup. It reads:

מנחה שלוחה מאתנו שבתי ו'ז )וזוגתו( הדס ק'ב )ק' ברכות( מעה'ק )מעיר הקודש( צפת'ו )צפת תבנה ותכונן( לבנינו היקר יעקב שלום נ'י )נרו יאיר(

"An offering presented by, Shabtai and his wife Hadas, one hundred blessings from the holy city of Safed, may it be built and established, to our dear son, Jacob Shalom, may his light shine."

The smooth band beneath the central band, is undecorated.

Name/Title
Kiddush cup | Unknown
Object
Object Detail
Description (Aleph)
Settings
Unknown
Date
1859
Active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown (Unknown)
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
MAT: Silver
Structure: hammered
Decoration: engraved
Bonding: soldered
Inscription: engraved
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
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Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
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Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
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Pricking
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Hebrew Numeration
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Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
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Colophon
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Watermark
Hallmark
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Group
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Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

According to William Gross, the so-called "Zfat Cups" were mostly brought without decoration from Europe, as indicated by the silver hallmarks, and were engraved in Eretz Israel with vignettes of Holy sites. The common knowledge is that such cups were fashioned in the city of Safed and hence their common name. The earliest dated cup is from 1881, so it is probable that they were made in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th. A number of existing examples have personal dedications, but it seems that they were purchased as souvenirs of the Holy Land as well.

Most of these cups, of the later types, carry an almost identical design, while earlier examples showed more original variation. The objects of the later type are quite a standard form. The Holy sites depicted here are the Kotel, the Holy city of Safed, and Mount Zion in Jerusalem. 

Main Surveys & Excavations
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Negative/Photo. No.
S421408