Obj. ID: 37437
Sacred and Ritual Objects Hanukkah lamp, Sefrou (Séfrou), circa 1875
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
The festival of Chanukah is celebrated in the winter period around December and commemorates a Biblical story in which the Jews of the Land of Israel rebel against the Greek occupiers. They reclaim the desecrated Holy Temple in Jerusalem and, miraculously, the small amount of pure oil remaining is enough to keep the Temple light going for eight days. Lamps with eight burners are lit during this holiday, both in the synagogue and at home. Through the centuries, such lamps have taken a wide variety of forms.
Almost all Chanukah lamps made in Morocco are either of artisan worked sheet brass or of sand cast brass. In this example, the Chanukah menorah is constructed of hinged sections. Such a creation is known only from Morocco. The style is identified with Meknes, and the type of arches used on the lamp is consistent with that conclusion. It is a very rare type, with only a handful of examples recorded in collections around the world. The design elements of the arches, rose windows and surface decoration are all found in Moroccan buildings, both secular and religious. As in many examples of this type of lamp, there are representations of birds on the upper section of the cast lamp. Recent research indicates that this type of cast lamp may have been produced in Sefrou. Very delicate patterns are worked into the flat surfaces of the lamp, cast from the original model and then chased. The multiple Arabesque arches also give evidence of its origin in the culture of an Islamic land.
There is another of this type in the Gross Family Collection 010.002.074.
sub-set tree:
O | Ornamentation: | Ornament
F | Flower
W | Window | Rose window
A | Arch | Horseshoe arches
B | Bird
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