Montefiore centerpiece

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Drawing of the centerpiece in the Illustrirten Zeitung from July 15, 1843

The Montefiore centerpiece is a gift of honor that the Jewish Englishman Moses Montefiore received on the occasion of his successful mediation in the Damascus affair. The centerpiece was presented to Montefiori on March 27, 1841 in his London apartment in Park Lane by the Board of Deputies of British Jews , of which he was president from 1835 with several interruptions. The centerpiece was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and the Anglo-Jewish Exhibition in 1887 and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London . In the Montefiore Collections catalog it has the number 02786.

background

In 1840, Montefiore traveled with the French Cremieux and other delegates to Constantinople , Damascus and Alexandria to mediate with the Egyptian governor Muhammad Ali Pascha and the Ottoman sultan Abdul Medschid in the Damascus affair. The occasion was the disappearance of the order priest Thomas, a Franciscan , for whose death the Turkish judiciary accused several Jews of the city. Montefiore and the lawyer Cremieux had come to an independent investigation into the incident to prove the innocence of the accused, which they succeeded in doing. As a result, Abdul Medschid issued a Ferman who lifted all measures directed against Jews and guaranteed them the same rights as followers of other religions.

description

The centerpiece is a kind of pyramidal monument of 3 1 / 2  feet height and a weight of 1319 ounces silver (37,4 kg). It was designed by Sir George Hayter , Edward Baillie carried out the sculpture work, the cast is by Mortimer and Hunt.

The centerpiece is four-sided and rests on a wide, square base. On the base, which forms the main part, rises a statue of King David , who is snatching a lamb from the jaws of a lion. The figure symbolizes the biblical story in the 17th chapter of the 1st book of Samuel and stands for the liberation of innocence and the overcoming of violent repression. The base shows a bas-relief on each side , while various figures sit or kneel at the corners. The reliefs depict scenes of Montefiore's journey: the landing in Egypt in a boat with his companions Loewe , Madden and Wire , the audience with the Sultan, grant the firman, the liberation of the prisoners and their thanksgiving. In this fourth portrayal, Montefiore is uniformed as a vice lieutenant in an English county, the prisoners throw themselves thankfully at his feet while he points to heaven, to whom the actual thanks should be due.

The figures at the corners are made of silver and show Moses (with the law panels) and Ezra (a scroll read). The other two show two Jews from Damascus, one of whom is in chains and the other with broken fetters thanks Moses for the liberation of the Jewish people. Vines and fig leaves hang over their heads, and explanatory Hebrew verses are written under the feet. On the base of the plinth there are four other depictions: the crossing of the Red Sea , lions and wolves devouring lambs, but also a scene from the book of Isaiah in which they lie next to each other peacefully with other animals ( Isa 65.25  EU ) . The fourth base, on the other hand, bears a longer inscription, above is a coat of arms , which is composed of the family coat of arms of Moses Montefiore and the shield holders of the royal coat of arms (lion and unicorn ). The shield holders may only be used with the consent of the British royal family. The entire centerpiece stands on four reclining sphinxes , symbolizing the land of Egypt , where the Israelites were imprisoned.

literature

Web links

Commons : Montefiore Centerpiece  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c The gift of honor to Sir Moses Montefiore . In: Illustrirte Zeitung . No. 3 . J. J. Weber, Leipzig July 15, 1843, p. 45-46 ( Wikisource ).
  2. ↑ Amia Raphael: Goldsmiths and Silversmiths. Contemporary Developments. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 7th 2nd edition, 2007, ISBN 978-0-02-865935-0 , p. 726.
  3. ↑ a b c The Montefiore Centrepiece. The Montefiore Collections, accessed October 1, 2014 .