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Obj. ID: 616
Sacred and Ritual Objects
  Kiddush cup from Safed, Poland, late 19th century - early 20th century

© 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)

Translation: 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.

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

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Name/Title
Kiddush cup from Safed | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
late 19th century - early 20th century
Active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
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Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
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Period Detail
Collection
Documentation / Research project
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Textual Content
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Languages of inscription
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Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
MAT: Silver
Structure: hammered
Decoration: engraved
Bonding: soldered
Inscription: engraved
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Material Cloth
Material Lining
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Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
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Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
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0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
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Direction/Location
Façade (main)
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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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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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The following information on this monument will be completed:
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