The Lindo lamp is a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

Chanukah menorah. It is the oldest known example of a Chanukah menorah made in Britain.

History

The lamp was created by London silversmith John Ruslen in 1709. It was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Elias Lindo and Rachel Lopes Ferreira. The couple were married at London's

Bevis Marks Synagogue Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim ( he, קָהָל קָדוֹשׁ שַׁעַר הַשָׁמַיִם, "Holy Congregation Gate of Heaven"), is the oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom in continuous use. It is loc ...

on February 2, 1708–09. The lamp has been on loan to the London Jewish Museum, which has displayed it for 77 years, since the day the museum opened in 1932. The lamp is considered to be among the most important objects in the museum's collection. It is feared that if sufficient funds cannot be raised to purchase the lamp, it will be purchased by a private collector and disappear from public view. If the Museum, which is undergoing a major renovation, manages to raise sufficient funds to purchase the menorah, it will be on view in a new gallery entitled "Judaism: A Living Faith", designed to display the museum's "magnificent" collection of Jewish ceremonial art. The Museum's collection of ceremonial art has been awarded "designated" status by the

Museums, Libraries and Archives Council The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) was until May 2012 a non-departmental public body and registered charity in England with a remit to promote improvement and innovation in the area of museums, libraries and archives. Its function ...

in recognition of its outstanding national importance. In 2009 the family that has long loaned the lamp to the Museum announced that it wished to sell the lamp, a price of £300,000 was set should the Museum wish to purchase the lamp. The

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...

(NHMF) agreed to contribute £145,000. The Art Fund offered to contribute £75,000 and the MLA /V&A Purchase Fund £30,000, if the Museum can raise the remaining £50,000 from private donors.

Art

Abraham Bloemaert - Landscape with the Prophet Elijah in the Desert - WGA2277

The

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. '' Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, i ...

menorah is chased with a relief image of the Prophet

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

fed by ravens, a scene from the Book of Kings (I Kings 17:6). It is common for Jewish ceremonial artistic objects to depict a biblical character bearing the same name as the patron who commissioned an object, in this case Elias (Elijah) Lindo. The subject is not very common in Jewish art, but it was popular in the Baroque period in both Catholic and Protestant lands. A well-known ''Elijah fed by Ravens'' painted in 1620 by

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...

hangs in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

. A version by

Abraham Bloemaert Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker in etching and engraving. He was initially working in the style of the " Haarlem Mannerists", but in the 16th century altered his style in line with the ...

is owned by the

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

References

{{reflist Jewish ceremonial art Jewish English history Silver objects 1709 in art Elijah Candelabra