Silver Levite Pitcher

This ritual pitcher is associated with the function of the Levites, to whom falls, in the liturgy, the pouring of water on 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. Central European pieces, in repoussed and engraved silver, often bear as decoration the motif of a jug and raised hands in the blessing gesture, hereditary emblems of the lineage also found on tombstones. Their form follows that of secular silverware pitchers, adapted to a specific cultic use.