Anton Simm or perhaps Dominik Biemann, Northern Bohemia, Sudetenland, 1820-30. Representation of the Jewish Passover

Anton Simm or perhaps Dominik Biemann, Jablonec Nad Nisou (Gablonz) or Franzenbad, Northern Bohemia, Sudetenland, 1820-30, Biedermeier period. Extraordinary museum-quality relief chalice made for a high-ranking Jewish client, depicting, through wheel-ground miniatures, the celebration in a Jewish family of Pesach (Jewish Passover), with the Seder meal. Important and extremely rare work by the great Bohemian master, which clearly shows his hand (facial features of the characters, masterfully ground details of the furniture and the set table, as well as the characteristic turned columns often used by Simm to divide the miniatures from each other) and to whom it can be attributed with practical certainty. Height 18 cm, width 12.5 cm. The work is in perfect condition. With ground inscriptions in ancient Hebrew describing each scene. Pésach or Pesah (Hebrew ???), also known as Jewish Passover, is a Jewish holiday that lasts eight days (seven in Israel only) and commemorates the Exodus and liberation of the Israelite people from Egypt; the Christian Easter - albeit with new Christological meanings - originates from this holiday. A special dinner, called Seder, is celebrated on the first two nights of the festival. During the first two nights, dinner is eaten following a specific order of foods and prayers that is precisely called Seder, a word that in Hebrew means order, during which the entire story of the conflict with the pharaoh, the 10 plagues and the final escape is narrated following the Haggadah of Pesach. The celebration is full of visible gestures and necessary elements, especially so that children can observe and learn. Intact work, not restored Anton Simm, born on June 3, 1799 in Jablonec nad Nisou, a charming town in Northern Bohemia, in the heart of the Giant Mountains region where the most beautiful Bohemian-German works of the Biedermeier period were created, was one of the greatest sculptor-grinders of glass who ever lived in the world. He was introduced to this art by his father, another great grinder, Wenzel Simm. He directed a prestigious factory where works with religious motifs, hunting scenes, plants and animals, and rarely allegories were ground. Chalices ground with allegorical scenes that have come down to us are extremely rare and of small sizes. No chalice in the world, in addition to the one we are offering, depicting Jewish rituals of this size is known. The artist died in Jablonec nad Nisou on March 17, 1873. His original works that have come down to us are extremely rare. In addition to the one we are offering, few others are known, mostly kept in public museums (Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Applied Arts Prague, Liechtenstein Museum Vienna). Literature Pasaurek - Philippovitvich, Glaeser der Empire und Biedermeierzeit, pages 79-85; Paul von Lichtemberg, Glasgravuren des Biedermeier, pages 293-295. Glanz und Farbe, Liechtenstein Museum Wien, pages 85-86. Licht und Farbe, Rudolf von Strasser pages 517-518. In accordance with the provisions of the New Code of Cultural Heritage, the selling company provides simultaneously with the sale a detailed written photographic guarantee of authenticity and provenance of the works sold. The data with which the works are described and then contained in the written guarantees are express determinations resulting from accurate and documented technical/historical/artistic investigations, even of expert evaluation. Work not present in our location, visible by appointment with adequate notice / private negotiation