Hanukkah Lamp

Mirrored Hanukkah lamps are very rare, probably due to the fact that until the 18th-century glass mirrors were quite expensive to make. Large mirrors were so prized that they were often given as gifts from one monarch to another. By the 18th-century, domestic markets for mirrors increased in places like Germany, but it was not until the 19th-century that two labor-saving inventions made mirrors more widely available. These innovations consisted of a chemical means of silvering the glass, and a special furnace that speeded up the glass melting process. It is therefore remarkable that the original owner of this lamp was able to afford it.