Exceptional 18th Century Rocking Horse

18th century Swedish Rococo commode with four drawers and fantastic shape & proportions. ca 1760 Stockholm, Sweden.

Exceptional 18th century Swedish Rococo commode with four drawers and fantastic shape & proportions. ca 1760 Stockholm, Sweden.

Exceptional 18th century Swedish Rococo chair with embossed carvings, original surface and great shape. ca 1770 Sweden.

18th century Rococo Swedish gilt-wood mirror with mirror frame and the Northern Star. In It's original finish and mirror glass with good patination. Ca 1760 Stockholm, Sweden. Very ...

Pewter passover tray, Germany, 18th century. The outer rim has wriggle- work engraving of the order of the Seder service, along with a pair of birds fl...

Cast brass Hanukkah Lamp, Galicia, 18th century. The backplate is cast and pierced featuring dense scrollwork. The side panels fitted with two servant lights, fronted by a row of eight oil fonts. Scholars theorize that these Polish Chanukah Lamps that bear two servant lights (as opposed to the singular servant light normally found on a Chanukah Lamp), served a purpose, having been used on one of the days that Chanukah fell on the Sabbath, as Sabbath Candlesticks. This lamp was made by the technique known as "sand casting". This process begins with a wooden mold that was carved out to create negative space, which in turn is used to make the inverse form or shape to be used for the casting of metal. The mold is pressed into fine sand mixed with clay, then removed, and molten brass poured into the impression. When a mold wears out, a casting from that mold is often used as the mold for the next generation. Those later lamps...

Rare Alsace carved wooden Torah Pointer (YAD), 18th century. The body of the pointer is engraved in its first part with a decoration of palmettes and stripes. It then continues with...

An Intricate Jerusalem Textile, made in Jerusalem, 1886. Double-sided large pouch. Wool thread embroidered on cotton net. One side has a lion and stag holding flags reading “Jerusalem” in Hebrew, which flank a crowned Ten Commandments. Titled in Hebrew “Swift as a deer, strong as a lion” (Ethics of the Fathers 5:20). “Jerusalem” is seen in large lettering, atop a pair of birds and flowers. Top scene of the reverse side is titled “Mount of Olives”, amongst a plethora of olive trees, and a cluster of buildings is titled “Chulda the Prophetess”, (where her and others tombs reside). Main scene is titled “The Western Wall”, which features the wall and outer structures with turrets and Cyprus trees. The Hebrew date of “1886” is revealed on the bottom corners. This delicate textile, incredibly vibrant in color after 130 years of being created, is a masterful, exceedingly rare work of art produced in Jerusalem by an unknown woman --- likely quite young, a teenager --- as a gift to an unknown individual. Too complex to be a “tourist trinket”, as we know of one other similarly-made textile that is in the collection of the Israel Museum, and is dated 1876: see the book “Jewish Folk Art: From Biblical Days to Modern Times”, page 122. A clue to where perhaps this was made is in the depiction of the lion and stag holding flags, as they are identical to those featured on the crest of Moses Montefiore. In the 19th century, Montefiore gave enormous sums of money to purchase land for Jewish settlements and establish schools in Palestine. This textile most likely hailed from a school for girls funded by Montefiore, and was made as either a gift for Montefiore himself, or another wealthy donor. As to the actual purpose of this textile, since it is in the form of a large pouch, its intended purpose might have been to hold a tallit (prayer...