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Early Bezalel Jerusalem Solid Silver Filigree Jewish Spice Container Havdalah

About the Item

extremely rare one of a kind spice container made for the Havdalah ceremony, or maybe a snuff box, This chest shaped box is small but its adorned with the most amazing filigree work we have seen Its shaped as a chest with 3 filigree palm trees on the front and back and 2 on each side, the palm trees are intricate made with delicate filigree and granulation work, the the dates clusters are depicted as cabochon turquoise stones. The lid of the box is domed and it is fully covered with filigree that resemble a roof, on the 4 corners and 2 sides, there are roundels with david stars which resembles the windows of the 19th century synagogues. So intricate and delicate, this box was made to keep spices for smelling on the eve of shabbat. The box should date to the early years of the Bezalel art school, around 1915 and its probably a work by The famous filigree artist Yehia Yemini, who was working Bezalel filigree department in its early days. the box is marked with the earliest silver mark of Bezalel , with the name "BEZALEL JERUSALEM" in hebrew is placed inside tow circles and the letters are conjoined in an Art Nouveau form, its rare to find items with this mark. Bezalel silver department : Boris Shatz founded an art-and-crafts school in Jerusalem in 1906, naming it "Bezalel" for Bezalel Ben Uri, builder of the First Temple of biblical times. The Bezalel School heralded efforts to forge links with a broad range of Jewish artistic traditions from East and West. The school's daring innovation offered a leading role to the local Yemenite community, particularly in the Filigree Silver Department, which was inaugurated in 1908. By 1913, the Bezalel Silver Department numbered some eighty employees, among them Yehia Yemini , who had been working there from the outset. Department head, Shmuel Persov, taught new concepts of filigree work that were not always familiar to his Yemenite employees; thus, the craftsmen, who ranged from children to the elderly, produced filigree work influenced both by the Yemenite and the East European style. Yehia Yemini distinguished himself with the quality of his work; his designs were interspersed with with classical hammerings of Biblical heroes, holy places and tribal emblems and embellished with traditional verses. Filigree work was used with etching and hammering, with settings of stones, and with mother-of-pearl and enamel, as well as granulation and fine flowery adornment in the style of Russia and Poland. With his multi-dimensional perspective and outstanding Yemenite handcrafting skills, he created a pluralistic and eclectic style that came to embody the Bezalel silver department. Bezalel scholl : In 1903 Boris Schatz proposed establishing an art school directly to Theodor Herzl, founding father of political Zionism. Schatz envisaged the creation of a Zionist style of art blending classical Jewish/Middle Eastern and European traditions. In 1905, the seventh Zionist Congress passed a resolution supporting the establishment of a Zionist school of art in the land of Israel, The Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts was officially founded the next year in 1906, with assistance from E.M. Lilien. The school opened in rented premises on Ethiopia Street in Jerusalem. It moved to a complex of buildings constructed in the 1880s surrounded by a crenelated stone wall, owned by a wealthy Arab person. In 1907, the property was purchased for Boris Schatz by the Jewish National Fund. Schatz lived on the campus with his wife and children. Bezalel's first class consisted of 30 young art students from Europe who successfully passed the entrance exam. Eliezer Ben Yehuda was hired to teach Hebrew to the students, who hailed from various countries and had no common language. His wife, Hemda Ben-Yehuda, worked as Boris Schatz's secretary. In addition to traditional sculpture and painting, the school offered workshops that produced decorative art objects in silver, leather, wood, brass, and fabric. Many of the craftsmen were Yemenite Jewish silversmiths who had a long tradition of working in precious metals, as metal smithing was a traditional Jewish occupation in Yemen. Yemenite immigrants were also frequent subjects of Bezalel artists.

Dimensions:

Height: 2.3 in (5.85 cm)Width: 2.1 in (5.34 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)

Style:

Arts and Crafts (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Precious Stone,Silver,Engraved,Hammered,Hand-Carved,Hand-Crafted

Place of Origin:

Asia

Period:

1910-1919

Date of Manufacture:

1915

Condition:

this box is 110 years old and it was used, the ball shaped feet are a little squeezed from handeling the lid is a bit disformed as can seen on the photo, there are a few dings to lid and base, some tarnished areas and few granulation pieces missing.

Seller Location:

Tel Aviv - Jaffa, IL

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU8130239742262

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