This ritual ewer is associated with the function of the Levites, whose role in the liturgy is to pour water over the hands of the Cohanim (descendants of Aaron) before they pronounce the priestly blessing (Birkat Cohanim). It belongs to synagogue silverware and the domestic use of Levitic families. The pieces from Central Europe, in repoussé and engraved silver, often bear as decoration the motif of a pitcher and hands raised in the blessing gesture, hereditary emblems of the lineage found also on tombstones. Their form follows that of secular silverware ewers, adapted to a precise cultic use.
