Silver-plated metal, made of a copper-alloy. With sliding candle holder above a spice compartment drawer and square base.
Neo-Classical style decoration on base. Marked "WMF" and "i/o". Circa 1895 – 1910.
This very object is illustrated in a WMF factory catalog, and we will provide the buyer with a xerox of that catalog page.
In the late nineteenth century, numerous factories developed in Germany and elsewhere for the mass production of silver and silver-plate. These were fashioned by die-stamping in a press, rather than through handcrafting.
The German firm that created this was "Wurttembergisches Metallwarenfabrik", better known as WMF. Around the turn of the last century WMF specialized in plated copper-alloy wares, including Jewish ritual objects. The "i/o" is the factory mark for the standard amount of silver to be applied to the metal.
While various WMF chanukah lamps are quite common and appear in the marketplace with regularity, this is the first WMF Havdalah compendium we have seen.
Share this lot:
Lot #323