The lively relief decoration consists of a sunflower at top, two pairs of rosette flowers on the sides, and a cluster of grapes. However, if one closely examines the forms created by the pierced decoration, one sees quite a different design: a large central tulip at the top (containing the sunflower) with two smaller tulips on curved, striated stems below. A possible prototype for the openwork forms can be seen in a Dutch wall sconce dated to around 1730, in which a large central flower is flanked by two smaller flowers on curved stems. The incongruity between the relief motifs and the pierced ones suggests that the original decorative scheme had been forgotten over time and other embellishments, ones that would be highly reflective of the Hanukkah lights, were added.
A nineteenth-century date for this lamp is based on that of a closely related type
with hearts replacing the sunflowers, one example of which was probably commissioned in 1842.