Hanukkah Lamp, Copper alloy: repoussé, chased, and punched, 18th century
Object Name:
Hanukkah Lamp
Place Made:
Netherlands
Date:
18th century
Medium:
Copper alloy: repoussé, chased, and punched
Dimensions:
11 1/4 × 11 1/8 × 3 1/8 in. (28.6 × 28.3 × 7.9 cm)
Credit Line:
Gift of Dr. Harry G. Friedman
Accession Number:
F 5773

Not On View

This lamp represents two figures holding long tapers for lighting the Temple menorah. They are clean shaven and wear tricorn hats, wigs, skirted coats, and breeches. This costume and grooming are typical of fashionable Dutch gentlemen of the eighteenth century. In many countries of Europe and the Middle East, Jews were required to wear distinctive colors, badges, hats, or other specific items of clothing. However, no such requirements existed in Holland, and the Sephardi community in particular delighted in wearing the latest styles. By contrast, Dutch Ashkenazi Jews were bearded and wore more traditional styles of clothing, such as the tall-crowned, wide-brimmed hat of Rembrandt's day.

Information may change as a result of ongoing research.

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