Lot Essay
This celebratory design was created in 1986 by German-born Manfred Anson (1922–2012), a Judaica collector and connoisseur in his own right. Just prior to the Second World War, Anson was among twenty boys rescued by the Jewish Welfare Guardian Society of Australia. He emigrated to the United States in 1963. The sconces were cast from souvenirs produced for the Statue of Liberty Centennial, and the first example was presented to the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Other examples are held by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (No. 2010.0158.01) and the Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, the latter illustrated on the cover of New Beginnings: The Skirball Museum Collections and Inaugural Exhibition (1996) and remains on exhibition in Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America.