Lot 403
Spectacular Large Bronze Tzedakak Box with Latch, Poland, Late 19th Century. Cast with decorative embossed cover, raised Hebrew inscriptions on back cover and spine, and decorative design engraved on three edges. While modern tzedakah boxes are meant to hold coins, this large box--perhaps located in a synagogue--was evidently made to hold paper money. The spine reads "Tzedakah." Front cover features a large eagle wearing a crown, with its right claw atop a sphere and its left claw resting on a pedestal; a Star of David is in the background. The back cover contains a portion of a secular poem by Solomon Ibn Gabirol, a medieval Jewish poet and philosopher, in which he showed a disillusionment with social mores and worldliness, translated as: "Man worries about the loss of his money (i.e. wasting his time); his money (or blood) cannot help, his days will never return." This text is popular today as part of a song by Yossi Green, also sung by Avraham Fried. A masterpiece of craftsmanship that is perhaps the only example extant. 28.2 x 21.2 x 6.3cm. Excellent condition.
Estimated Value $6,500 - 9,500.
From The Collection of Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer.
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