The tradition of making cast lead or pewter objects for Hanukkah was centered in Germany, Bohemia, and eastern Europe. Children would create lead dreidls (special tops used for a Hanukkah game) from molds they often made themselves. These would be melted down at New Year's. Chair Hanukkah lamps were made of pewter, which has a higher melting point than lead and thus for the most part was not destroyed by the flames of the lights. The reason for choosing the chair form is unknown, and perhaps it is a whimsical interpretation of the bench lamp.
The square chair back with its three curved splats is characteristic of the Biedermeyer style of Germany, and was a form prevalent in the 1820s. The term Biedermeier was originally a derogatory one, and the style was perceived as a mixture of various neoclassical elements that became popular among the newly prosperous classes of Europe.
Other examples of pewter chair lamps in the collection, in different shapes, are the only published ones with known provenance and date. These came from Russia between 1868 and the end of the nineteenth century.