1765 Silver Antique Jewish Circumcision Cup Hieronymus Mittnacht Germany for Sale

1765 Silver Antique Jewish Circumcision Cup Hieronymus Mittnacht Germany For Sale

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1765 Silver Antique Jewish Circumcision Cup Hieronymus Mittnacht Germany :
$9500.00

An incredible find. Unfortunately, there is only one cup, and I am missing the other cup that would have been inscribed \"Kos Shel Bracha\". I cleaned and polished it. Marked \"HM\" for Hieronymus Mittnacht, pine cone for the city of Augsburg, and date letter Q for 1763 - 1765. The zigzag line is known as a \"Tremolierstich\" in German. It was produced when a government assayer removed a bit of silver in order to test the content for purity and is found on fine 17th and 18th century silver from Germany.

First, even locating an 18th century silver double cup with authentic, period Hebrew engraving for circumcision is very, very rare, as 95% of examples seen, the engraving is a forgery of some sort. Second, if you were to find an 18th century (NOT 19th century, of which examples appear on the market semi-regularly), example with the most minimal Hebrew engraving (meaning the sayings are abbreviated to three letters), the cost would be in the $15,000 - $20,000 range. Cups with the level of Hebrew engraving and flanking floral sprays seen on mine, $20,000 - $30,000. However, even though I am missing one half of the two cup set, my cup is very important historically, because it is hallmarked by Hieronymus Mittnacht. Mittnacht was a known maker of Judaica silver objects and his six or eight sided Kiddush cups are a favorite of collectors; any serious collector of 18th century silver Judaica from Germany must own at least one Kiddush cup by Mittnacht. However, there are no circumcision cups by Mittnacht known. None. Not in European museum collections, American museum collections, Israeli museum collections, private collections. None have ever appeared at sale, including in the famed Judaica sales of New York Park-Bernet of 1949 - 1960\'s. If I had the other cup, I would want $40,000 - $60,000 for the pair. But I don\'t, so, I have adjusted the price accordingly.

Seen in the Sotheby\'s photo is a Kiddush cup by Mittnacht with identical hallmarks as those on my cup. Examinations/pickups in person are welcome, I am in New York City. Shipping outside the USA is by FedEx only.