Sabbath candlestick, one of a pair
On View In:
Gallery 362
Artist:   Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert  
Title:   Sabbath candlestick, one of a pair  
Date:   c. 1960  
Medium:   Silver  
Dimensions:   14 15/16 x 4 1/4 x 3 7/16 in. (37.94 x 10.8 x 8.73 cm)  
Credit Line:   The Eloise and Elliot Kaplan Endowment for Judaica  
Location:   Gallery 362  

Trained in Germany during the Bauhaus period, Wolpert is known for popularizing Modernism in Jewish ceremonial metalwork. He taught at the New Bezalel School for Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem and later at the Tobe Pascher Workshop at the Jewish Museum, New York. Wolpert's work is characterized by the use of stylized Hebrew letters as a primary design motif. (See the Megillah case by Wolpert also on view in this gallery.) This pair of candlesticks, a necessary element in the ceremony welcoming the Sabbath, is typical of Wolpert's design aesthetic, featuring stylized, geometric Hebrew letters integrated into architectonic forms.

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Wolpert, Ludwig Yehuda  
Role:   Maker  
Nationality:   American  
Life Dates:   American (born Germany), 1900-1981  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:   Mark on back, at bottom of center leg, incised: [TOBE/ PASCHER/WORKSHOP/THE/JEWISH MUSEUM], [WOLPERT] and  
Classification:   Judaica  
Physical Description:   three sided pyramid form with tripod base; stylized openwork Hebrew characters on front; sculptural back with three football-shaped openings; removable boat-shaped drip pan  
Creation Place:   North America, United States, , ,  
Accession #:   2008.2.3.1a,b  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts