Hanukkah Lamp

Menorah-form lamps were much less common in Italy than the hanging bench types. Small lamps such as this were in use in synagogues, in contrast to the massive copper-alloy Hanukkah lamps seen in northern and Eastern Europe. This Baroque-style silver lamp combines the traditional, labor-intensive method of repoussé in the base with a less expensive technique used for the arms. In repoussé, the silversmith hammers out, freehand, a raised design from the back. The arms on this lamp, however, were made in two separate pieces, a front and a back, which were hammered into a mold. The joints between the two halves were distinguished by the application of leaves. These were first steps toward the die-stamping and factory production of the nineteenth century.