Havdalah Compendium – Augsburg, 1800 – Franz Anton Gutwein

Havdalah Compendium – Augsburg, 1800 – Franz Anton Gutwein

Silver, cut, soldered, and engraved.
Hallmarks: · Maker's mark, the initials "AG" – Franz Anton Gutwein (active 1759-1805); · Augsburg’s municipal emblem with the letter "L".
Cylindrical candleholder soldered onto a fancy base with four perforations, through which tall cylindrical silver rods are inserted, enabling the candleholder and its base to be elevated by means of a small, silver ring-shaped handle. The rods are surmounted by flags. Just beneath the flags, the rods are held together by a silver plate with a large hole for a candle in its center. This plate matches the base of the candleholder beneath it, and is equipped with a large, ring-shaped handle. At the base of the rods is the spicebox, designed in the form of a shallow drawer. The entire contraption is supported by a wide, short-legged square base, adorned with delicate vegetal patterns consisting of flowers, leaves, and clumps of grapes. Matching patterns appear on the spicebox.

Some 20 items of Judaica created by the silversmith Franz Anton Gutwein are known, including roughly a dozen Torah shields, a few pairs of Torah finials, several kiddush cups, one spicebox, and one other havdalah vessel. Among other places, his works can be found in the collections of the Jewish Museum, New York, the Jewish Museum, Amsterdam, the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, Berkeley, and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Height: 21 cm. Width at base: 7.5 cm. Good condition. Open fracture to handle of spicebox.

For comparison and for additional information, see: Crowning Glory, item nos. 50-53, 269; and Sotheby’s, Tel Aviv, December 9, 1999, lot no. 9.

Reference: Michele Klein, "The Havdalah Candle-holder", Ars Judaica, 2012, pages 46, 52, and 53.
Provenance:
1. Peter Castle (1922-2011), great-grandson of Solomon David Schloss, purchased in 1991.
2. Heir of the above.