Obj. ID: 38572  Plate, Rodenberg, 1776

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

The wide diameter of this plate places it among the very largest, if not the largest, pewter plates engraved for Jewish use. The extremely fine work also makes it qualitatively far above the usual plates of this genre. Some of the symbols engraved into the surface, such as the unicorn, the bull, and the double-headed eagle are much more common on Galician Jewish objects than on German.  Their presence is explained in the inscription, which records the maker as Ze’ev from Lviv (in Galicia). Another part of the inscription gives the owners’ names, Bendit ben Ya’akov and Frieda bat Yona. Such pewter plates were most often engraved for the Passover Seder.  This example is no different, and the order for the holding of the Passover eve ceremony are listed in the Hebrew inscription around the outer rim of the plate.       

Inscription:  This is the work of my hands, not to be proud, finished on the third good day of Iyyar, the year (chronogram) (5)536;  here Rodenberg. Siman le-Seder shel Pesach