58 Menorah Jewish, 4th century A.D. Bronze H: 45.5 cm
Central part of a menorah, the Jewish seven-branched lampstand, made of bronze and decorated with many spirals in relief between the main branches. The base and the plate intended to hold the oil lamps are now lost. Even fragmentary examples of such ancient Jewish candelabra that have survived up to modern times are extremely rare. According to the most specialized study recently published (Hachlili 2001), there are only some ten attested marble or bronze specimens, discovered mostly in Israel and in Asia Minor. Among these, three examples found in the synagogue of Sardis, the first made of marble (Hachlili 2001, D 2.1, p. 356) and the two others made of bronze (Waldbaum 1983, nos. 610-611, p. 103), are probably the closest parallels for our example, stylistically speaking. The rich ornamentation of the fragmentary marble menorah, with its rich incised volutes, particularly recalls the spirals of our example, so that we might even consider it as one of the prototypes to have inspired the craftsman who manufactured the present piece. The two bronze lampstands, whose general rendering is rather similar, would suggest that our example might also originate in Asia Minor, within the same chronological framework, namely the 4th century A.D. It is also worth noting a pair of complete bronze examples from the Holy Land, dated between the 4th and the 7th century, which are among the most beautiful pieces in the Steinhardt Collection. The rendering is simpler, however, and the series of lamps crowning the first example would suggest an earlier dating, perhaps the 1st or 2nd century A.D.
Condition Only the central, more decorative part and a fragment of a ring to be fixed to the bottom of the shaft are still preserved. Surface partially covered with a pale green patina.
Provenance Ex-Professor Adolphe Goumaz Collection, Switzerland, collected in the 1960s.
Bibliography HACHLILI R., The menorah, the ancient seven-armed candelabrum: origin, form, and significance, Leiden, 2001. WALDBAUM J.C., Metalwork from Sardis: The Finds through 1974, Cambridge, 1983.