Ceremonial Beaker of the Darmstadt Burial Society

Images(5)

Ceremonial Beaker of the Darmstadt Burial Society

Artist Martin Breuer German, 1672–1751

Date1711–1715

MediumSilver, partly gilded

DimensionsH. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm)
Diam. (Rim): 5 3/16 in. (13.2 cm)
Diam. (Base): 3 11/16 in. (9.4 cm)

ClassificationsMetal

Credit LinePurchased with funds provided by Steven and Lisa Feierstein in memory and honor of our families, Ugo Goetzl in memory of Sylvia Goetzl, Marion Meyer-Robboy and Stanley Robboy, and other Friends of the Judaic Art Gallery

Object number2019.27

On View

On view

Label TextMany Jewish communities have volunteer societies to care for the sick and to prepare bodies for burial. In many communities a burial society known as the hevra kadisha, or holy community or confraternity, held an annual banquet with festive drinking from special cups.

This beaker is a treasured remnant of the once vibrant Jewish community of Darmstadt in western Germany. It is engraved with the names of the society’s members and their zodiac signs or personal emblems. The Hebrew inscription encircling the rim incorporates biblical and Talmudic texts describing cups and drinking, and addresses death and the hope for deliverance.ProvenanceCreated Galicia [present day Eastern Poland or Western Ukraine], 1766/67 [1], with probable 18th century later additions. [Benson Malamut, Berlin] [2]; Omer Bar Yosef, Moscow and Tel Aviv, ca. 2015; [sale, Sotheby’s, New York, December 19, 2018, no. 126, illus. (color)]; sold to NCMA, 2018.

[1] Dedication.
[2] Per Elizabeth Grober, Sotheby’s, Tel Aviv.Published References“Sotheby’s to offer Judaica from the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection,” in ArtDaily.Com at http://artdaily.com/news/117651/Sotheby-s-to-offer-Judaica-from-the-Arthur-and-Gitel-Marx-Collection#.XkL6_EF7m70 accessed 12/3/2019

Sacred Splendor: Judaica from the Arthur & Gitel Marx Collection (auction catalogue) (New York: Sotheby’s, November 20, 2019), 138–139, illus. (color) 139.

larry [sic], “Rabbi’s Son Bought for Over $700K: Results from Sotheby’s Judaica Auction,” in Jewlicious (November 21, 2019), at https://jewlicious.com/2019/11/rabbis-son-bought-for-over-700k-results-from-sothebys-judaica-auction/ accessed 12/3/2019

Tsadik Kaplan, “Antique Judaica Roadshow” in The Jewish Press (November 28, 2019) at https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/sothebys-scores-big-with-judaica-rarities/2019/11/28 accessed 12/3/2019

North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection," (Raleigh, NC; North Carolina Museum of Art, 2024), illus. (color) 49.

Gabrielle Anna Berlinger and Ruth von Bernuth, editors, The Lives of Jewish Things: Collecting and Curating Material Culture (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2025), 210.Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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