Description
The spice box (bessamim) is used in the Havdalah ceremony, which closes Shabbat and separates it from the weekdays: fragrant spices are inhaled over it, with a blessing over fragrances, at the moment when the rest of the holy day departs from the worshipper. The tower form is the most characteristic of Ashkenazic silverwork; it evokes a medieval watchtower with a cylindrical or polygonal body, spire, flag, and small bells, with a door or shutter opening onto the receptacle. Worked in repoussé, filigree, or pierced silver, these towers constitute one of the oldest preserved types of Jewish ritual objects, whose production dates back at least to the sixteenth century in the silversmithing centers of Germany.
