Obj. ID: 35655
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Besomim, Ukraine, circa 1850

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

In Jewish tradition the end of the Sabbath and other Jewish Holidays is marked by the ceremony of Havdalah (Separation) that differentiates between the Holy nature of the holdiay and the profane nature of the following day. This ritual is accomplished by lighting a special candle with several wicks, drinking wine from a cup and the inhalation of the sweet smell of spices. In the Ashkenazi world these spices were usually held in a container which was often shaped in varying forms.

n the middle of the 19th century, a school for training Jewish silver and gold smiths was opened in the Ukrainian city of Zhitomir. For the next few decades the majority of Jewish silver produced in the Ukraine came from this city. This tower is typical of one form of spice container produced in this center starting in the 1850's, a structure exclusively linked to that source. Using the filigree technique previously utilized in the Lvov silver center, this small tower still retains the elaborate bases so typical of Galician types. It also uses the technique of gold and silver contrasting colors.