Lot Essay
The contemporary engraved Hebrew inscription attested that this lamp was made from melted down silver coins named "shmirah" or "Hatslachah". Such coins were blessed and presented by Chassidic Rabbis to their followers for good luck (Hatslachah), as a safeguard against evil (Shmirah) and to insure health and prosperity.
For other objects made from such melted-down coins see:
Fishof, Iris., From the Secular to the Sacred, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1985, pp. 64-66, nos.: 39-43
Shachar, Isaiah., The Jewish Tradition in Art, The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaism, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, p.307, nos.: 1021-1024
Golnisky, Heschel., Sefer Ze'evi (ed. Y. Ziegelman), Haifa, 1966, pp.119ff
See illustration
For other objects made from such melted-down coins see:
Fishof, Iris., From the Secular to the Sacred, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1985, pp. 64-66, nos.: 39-43
Shachar, Isaiah., The Jewish Tradition in Art, The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaism, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, p.307, nos.: 1021-1024
Golnisky, Heschel., Sefer Ze'evi (ed. Y. Ziegelman), Haifa, 1966, pp.119ff
See illustration