A highly important German silver Sabbath and Festival Hanging Lamp (Judenstern)

of three tier tower form, partly pierced with scrolls and geometric motifs:

the top tier with partly tiled windowed dome with openwork coronet pierced with strapwork and double-headed eagles displayed below trefoils, the dome surrounded by a gallery occupied by eight figures with emblems as follows: Rosh Hashana - shofar and book, Purim - scroll and rattle, Passover - matzah and matzah scorer, Hanukah - menorah and ewer, Yom Kippur - knife and slain chicken, Shavuot - Tablets of the Law, Sukkot - lulav and etrog, Sabbath - havdalah candleholder and spice box; applied below with windows screened by strapwork and mask panels alternating  with spiraled pilasters topped by deer alternating with stylized mermaids; 

the middle tier applied with alternate round and square windows, the first with wheel-like screens, the second with grids, spaced by spiraled  pilasters  matching those in the top section, all below a cast openwork rim of  fleurs-de-lys and scrolls;

the lower tier applied with lion masks alternating with cannon-form fountain heads, spaced by mermaid-headed pilasters, all framed by two horizontal openwork borders of fleurs-de-lys and scrolls;



the tower mounted by central rod and three slip-locks on an oil reservoir with star-shaped  projection of ten paneled spouts, each engraved underneath with two bands of diminishing scrolling foliage; the center of the base with large lion mask, from which is suspended the half-baluster drip-bowl chased with three hounds pursuing a stag, doe and rabbit within ragged foliage on matted ground, melon-form terminal;



the tower with five detachable candle branches formed of cast openwork scrollwork fronted by a grotesque head, each suspending a bell and supporting a plain drip-pan and sconce, marked on all sections and four-drip-pans with maker’s mark of Johann Adam Boller and Frankfurt city mark, circa 1710;



the lamp suspended from a silver two-piece saw-edged ratchet with four cast eagle-head terminals, the top applied with two cast double headed eagles displayed, marked on each piece with maker’s mark of Jacob Loschhorn and city mark of Frankfurt, circa 1770.




Together with ten silver drip-channels, chased except for one with flames, nine with maker’s mark I L F in trefoil, also stamped 12, East German or Polish, late 18^th century.

Collection of Max von Wasserman, Bamberg, circa 1928 (see Literature)
Offered Christie’s Geneva, May 13, 1981, lot 19

New York, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, The Collector’s Room: Selections from the  Michael and Judy Steinhardt Collection, 1993, no. 7

Theodor Harburger, Die Inventarisation Judischer Kunst-und Kulturdenkmaler in Bayern, vol . II, p.78
Illus. photo from 1928
Guido Schoenberger, “A silver Sabbath Lamp from Frankfort-on-the-Main,” Essays in Honor of Georg Swarzenski, 1951
Cissy Grossman, A Temple Treasure, The Judaica Collection of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York,  1989, p.102

Lacquered, as noted about marks; figures now attached each with two rivets over a circular hole that no longer has a function, some emblems probably replacements cast from the originals; the drip bowl with many repairs and wear; the ratchet good condition, top dome possibly reworked. One drip chanel a modern replacement
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This lamp is one of the most complete of a small group of highly-decorated silver “Judenstern” Sabbath lamps.  Probably the richest productions of the golden age of Frankfurt Jewry, they speak to the wealth and sophistication of that community in the early 18th century.

the frankfurt ghetto

While other southern German cities were expelling their Jewish populations in the late 16th century, Frankfurt allowed its ghetto to remain; it soon became the largest Jewish community in Germany.  Despite the Fettmilch riots in the early 17th century, the community prospered.  Laws governing the Frankfurt ghetto were supposed to restrict its population to 500 families, with a maximum of 12 marriages per year.  However, the reality of the extensive Jewish population made the ghetto one of the most densely populated places in Europe.  Families of Court Jews and recent immigrants from farm communities were all crowded together into the short stretch of the Judengasse.  From 1718, the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna granted official recognition to representatives of the ghetto, although restrictive laws remained in place through the end of the 18th century.

Sumptuary laws give another insight into the richness of the Frankfurt community, and the role of a family’s silver pieces.  In 1715 – after the terrible 1711 fire which almost totally destroyed the ghetto – the Jewish Council restricted what silver objects could be displayed at the Spinholtz, the reception held at the bride’s house on Friday afternoon before the Saturday evening ceremony.  The three permitted forms were a leuchter, a lamp, and a becher, presumably the Sabbath light, the Hanukah lamp, and the Kiddush beaker (Weber, op. cit., p. 174).  Thus, these forms were not just for private devotion, but had a public display role, proclaiming the wealth and magnificence of the families involved.

the tower-form “judenstern” sabbath lamps
Guido Schoenberger finds the origin of these lamps in Roman hanging lamps with central reservoir and a rosette shape for the wicks to protrude. The Jewish form develops through the Middle Ages into a star form of Messianic significance.  He notes that silver versions were already being made in Frankfurt in the 16th century, entered into the Hallmarking Books of the Frankfurt Goldsmiths’ Guild in 1540 and 1557, under the name of “ein silberner Judenstern” (op.cit., p.196-197). He relates the cannon-form fountain spouts to the fountains found in the centers of European cities such as the “Schone Brunnen” of Nuremberg, a silversmithing center with wide influence. Schoenberger ties the idea of a fountain to Psalm 36:10: “For with Thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light do we see light.” The Sabbath is greeted as a “fountain of blessing” in “Lekha dodi”, a hymn of welcome that was incorporated into synagogue services in Frankfurt in the late 17th century.

However the idea of a fortified tower with figures is an appropriate image for the strength of the Jewish Faith.  Spice boxes were usually modeled in tower form, based on town hall, church or castle towers which would have landmark status at the time and thus be an image coming readily to mind.  However, the degree of elaboration seen on the Steinhardt lamp is greater than examples known to survive in actual masonry.  This suggests that these tower-form lamps are a conceit made partly from real examples and partly probably from temporary architecture such as used for processions or masques.  Fantastic towers also appeared in table decorations, both edible in stuffs such as marzipan, or worked in silver and gilt metal.  Especially popular in Germany  in the 16th and  17th century, nefs or ships - sometimes with projecting cannon - could be manned with numerous small figures of sailors and soldiers (see John Hayward, Virtuoso Goldsmiths, 1540-1620, 1976, item 548, p.391, for a Strasbourg example).  The fantastic architecture used on the sterns of real galleons may have been another inspiration, with their superimposed bands of windows framed in fantastic carving, topped by a balustrade, and the sides bristling with cannon.

surviving lamps
Seven lamps are known from late 17th and early 18th century Frankfurt; the style had a coda in Nuremberg in the later 18th century.  All of the Frankfurt examples are the products of a close group of associated goldsmiths.

Three of the lamps have a partly-open body populated with figures, giving more of the feeling of a gazebo or pavilion than a fortified tower; these are particularly close to fantastic stage or festival architecture of the baroque.  Traditionally, these have been dated earlier than the closed tower examples:

j.v. schüller, frankfurt, “the rothschild lamp," jewish museum, new york, jm 37-52[i]
This lamp has just one row of lion masks and cannon, separated by fantastic masks, below a bell-hung pavilion of slender columns with emblematic figures standing between.  The truncated column top is pierced with crescents and rosettes.

j.v. schüller, frankfurt. jewish museum, new york, f2707[ii]
A partially reconstructed lamp, the central stem has a band of alternating lion masks and cannon, topped by one of protruding rosettes in two patterns, than a third tier of alternating square and circular grilled windows below the openwork pavilion.  Here, the figures front the columns supporting a crown-form openwork dome. 

j.a. boller, frankfurt, “the lehman lamp,” temple emanu-el, new york[iii]
By the same maker as the Steinhardt lamp, this lamp has an upper tier of candle arms as well as the star of oil lamps.  The chasing on these radiating lights, centered by a lion mask, matches the offered piece, and Salomonic columns on the balustrades and inverted tulip dome recall the Steinhardt lamp, but the body is composed of pierced foliage, without any of the cannon, grilled windows, or lion masks of other lamps in the group.  

The second group of lamps derives from the first, but with a more architectural “turret” top and without the openwork pavilion.

j.v. schüller, frankfurt, skirball museum, los angeles.[iv]
This lamp has three tiers, tripped with the fleur-de-lys border, but without emblematic figures of candle arms.  The lowest tier of lion heads is spaced with roundels which were probably originally cannon ends; the second tier is circular and square grilled windows, while the third tier now has plain roundels.

j.a. boller, frankfurt, “the steinhardt lamp,” the offered lot

j.a. boller, frankfurt. jewish museum, new york, f4400.[v]
A little-published lamp also in the Jewish Museum, this piece is probably closest to the Steinhardt lamp, with similar star, drip pan, three tiers, and candle arms.  The figures are mounted, not at the top of the three architectural tiers, but on an additional gallery mounted partway up the tall spire.

george wilhelm schedel, frankfurt, dated 1738/39, consistoire, paris, on loan to the israel museum (l-b86.0017;117/220.)[vi]
A three-tiered lamp with a drip pan by J.C. Scüller, this piece is so close to the previous two Boller lamps as to suggest it was either made under Boller’s supervision or closely following his design and using his molds.  The balcony does not have a full complement of emblematic figures.

It is worth mentioning another group of lamps, as they seem to be the following generation of the Frankfurt model.  The silhouette, with its little turrets, is much more architectural, and very close to surviving structures in Germany.

Johann Jacob Runecke, Fürth (outside Nuremberg), circa 1780, “The Sassoon Lamp,” New York Private Collection.[vii]

Martin Carl Haniagen. Dublon, Nuremberg. Historische Museum, Hannover.[viii]

Maker unknown, probably Nuremberg. formerly Paris, Coll. A Fischel


[i] Vivian B. Mann and Richard I Cohen, eds. From Court Jews to the Rothschilds: Art, Patronage and Power, 1600-1800, Munich: Prestel, 1996, no. 127, p. 184
[ii] Purchased from Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, January 4, 1951, Gothic Renaissance Art: Furniture, Sculpture, Bronzes
[iii] Cissy Grossman, A Temple Treasury: The Judaica Collection of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, New York, 1989, no 87, pp.104-106
[iv] New Beginnings, The Skirball Museum Collections and Inaugural Exhibition, pl. 15, p. 36
[v] Formerly private collection Frankfurt, reproduced Guido Schoenberger, “A Silver Sabbath Lamp from Frankfort-on-the-Main” in Essays in Honor of Georg Swarzenski, 1951, p.197, illus. fig.3, p.195
[vi] With an earlier drip bowl by J. V. Schüler. Illustrated Victor A. Klagsbald, Jewish Treasures from Paris, from the Collections of the Cluny Museum and the Consistoire. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1982, no. 67
[vii] Sold Sotheby’s Tel Aviv, April 24, lot 19
[viii]  Nurnberger Goldschmiedekunst, 1541-1868, no 97, illus. p. 734 

the boller-schüller circle
The lamps come from a Frankfurt workshop started by Johann Valentin Schüller (master 1680), and continued by his brother Johann Michael Schüller (master 1684), and the latter’s brother-in-law Johann Adam Boller (master 1706).  The first two were the children of Michael Schüller, also a silversmith in Aschaffenburg.

Johann Valentin Schüller was born in 1650 in Aschaffenburg, and became apprentice to Jacob Rap in 1666, master in 1680, married in 1680, Anna Margaretha  Guldemundt, daughter of a shoemaker. He died in 1726.  His younger brother, Johann Michael Schüller, was born in 1658, became master in 1684 and in the same year married Anna Catharina, daughter of the musician Johann Adolff Boller.  He married secondly in 1706 Anna Gertraud Gras and died in 1718.

Johann Adam Boller, son of the musician Johann Adolff, became master in 1706 and married in 1707 Catharina Hardt, daughter of Johann Jacob Hardt. He died in 1732 Georg  Wilhelm Schedel, baptized  in 1698 son of Johann Schedel zu Oberkotzau im  Voigtland, became master in 1722 and married in the same year  Anna Catharina Reutlinger, daughter of silversmith Elias Reutlinger.  On her death in 1726 he married Helena Steffan, daughter of the chapel musician Henrich Moritz Steffan, and died in 1762.

Rötger (Rudiger) Herfurth was born in 1722 son of Johann Joachim Herfurth, silver dealer and  his first  wife Anna Margaretha  Bein, became master in 1748 and married first in 1749 Maria  Elisabeth Hoffmann and secondly in 1761 Rebecca Jenichen  and died in 1776.

Johann Jacob Löschhorn (Leschhorn) was baptised in 1740 son of silversmith Jacob; master in 1769 and died in 1787. Biographical information taken from Wolfgang Scheffler, Goldschmiede Hessens, 1976.

In Crowning Glory, Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York, p. 83 Rafi Grafman examines the relationship between these makers and indicates that the Schüllers, Boller and Schedel ran the same workshop from about 1680 till the middle of the 18th century.

The branches which support the sconces on the present lamp are cast from the same molds as the Torah Shield by Schüller, lot 94 in this sale.  The same castings may be seen in the Shield formerly in the Furman Collection, by Johann Valentin Schüller, (Bezalel Narkiss, Treasures of Jewish Art from the Jacabo and Asea Furman Collection of Judaica, pp. 56-57).