Plate
Lemberg, Galicia, Ukraine, c.1805
Silver, partly gilt, repousse

This plate is one of the most finely crafted pieces of silver work in the Gross Family collection. It is related directly to a group of plates made in Lvov between about 1800 and 1830. They fall into two groups: The larger group, known as pidyon ha-ben plates and a smaller group, to which this example belongs, of Passover plates. All of them are of a similar oval shape. However, the craftsmanship on the group of four extant Passover plates is far superior in quality.

The large scene is the exodus from Egypt, copied from the 1695 Amsterdam Haggadah. Around the rim are depictions of the ten plagues from the Passover story. Seven of these plagues are also patterned after the same Amsterdam Haggadah. The other plates in the group are in the Jewish Museum in Cracow, the Janger Collection in Chicago and the Prague Jewish Musem (this plate has the zodiac around the rim rather than the ten plagues). It is not known whether these plates were used in the Passover eve ceremonies or were simply decorative.

Inscription(s): The Hebrew words for the ten plagues

Height: 24.3 cm, Width: 34.3 cm

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