Hanukiot 12-13th Century

Figure 1. Hanukkah lamp, found in Avignon, 12th-13th century.

Marble: carved. 3 X 8 1/2 X 4 3/4 in. (7.5 X 21 X 12 cm). Private collection. From Susan L. Braunstein, Luminous Art: Hanukkah Menorahs of The Jewish Museum (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004),15.

Figure 2. Hanukkah lamp, Germany or northern France, 13th century. Copper alloy: cast, 5 1/4 X 6 11/16 X 2 in. (13.7 X 17 X 5.1 cm). Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, Bequest of Irving Lahman, 1945 (CEE 45.112). From Susan L. Braunstein, Luminous Art: Hanukkah Menorahs of The Jewish Museum (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004), 16.

The twelfth to the fourteenth centuries were a creative period for new developments in Jewish ritual objects. Works were specifically used for Jewish life were created, including Hanukiot. The earliest examples are carved stone (figure 1). Refereed to as the bench type, it is designed to sit on a flat surface. Found slightly later, wall-hung bronze lamps including backplates with architectonic forms which reflect the style of Gothic buildings and motifs (figure 2). The bench-type and the wall-hung examples began to use architectural motifs on Hanukkah lamps which continues today.