July, 1920 
33 
The four symbols of Judaism, used as decorations on wall sconces 
and Hannukah lights, are the star of David, the crown of David, 
the lions of Judah and the hind or deer of Naphtah 
COLLECTING RUSSIAN CANDLESTICKS 
From Russia, Austrian Galicia and Roumania Come Settlers Bringing Household 
Treasures of Great Beauty and Usefulness 
M. HOLDEN 
r P'HERE is great 
A charm and fas¬ 
cinating historic in¬ 
terest associated with 
the household arti¬ 
cles that are brought 
to America by the 
people of foreign 
lands, who come as 
settlers and h o m e 
builders to our 
shores. 
It started three hundred years ago when the 
Mayflower sailed into the then unknown, un¬ 
charted bay of Massachusetts, bringing the Pil¬ 
grims and their household goods. 
Since then a steady stream of ships has fol¬ 
lowed the Mayflower, bringing millions of 
the different peoples of the earth to America. 
During the past thirty 
years literally hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of 
Jewish families have 
arrived here from Rus¬ 
sia, Galicia and Rou¬ 
mania. Many of them 
were fleeing from per¬ 
secution for their 
faith's sake. 
These Jewish fami¬ 
lies brought with them 
bundles and bags of 
household goods con¬ 
taining their copper 
cooking pots and ket¬ 
tles, brass samovars, 
mortars, trays and 
pans. But the most 
cherished of all their 
possessions beside 
their little ones were 
their brass candle¬ 
sticks. The candle¬ 
sticks symbolized to 
them the Ark of an¬ 
cient faith, linking 
their own faith 
through the ages with 
Moses and God. 
They had lighted 
the candles in these 
candlesticks on every 
Sabbath evening, on 
the eve of every other 
holy day, in their 
homes in far-off Rus¬ 
sia. In their light they had prayed to the 
Living God for guidance, protection and de¬ 
liverance from persecution. Not only they, 
but their mothers and their mothers’ mothers 
before them for untold generations had 
prayed before these very same candlesticks, for 
the Zion that is to come. How many of them 
thought they reached it when they came to our 
shores ? 
No one can look at a pair of old Russian 
candlesticks (and in “Russian” is included the 
candlesticks of Galicia and Roumania) with¬ 
out thinking of the way in which they have 
come to us, without seeing in them more than 
the romance one attaches to an ordinary pair 
of candlesticks. History, romance, religion 
and craftsmanship of a high order are locked 
up in them. It needs but imagination and 
memory of the marvelous stories of the Old 
Testament to un¬ 
lock this romance 
which extends 
back to the an- 
c i e n t times. 
Truly, the. col¬ 
lector can read in 
them the vast 
stretch of the sub¬ 
lime history of 
the Jews. 
The earliest 
knowledge we have of candlesticks is recorded 
in the Book of Exodus. When the Jews were 
wandering in the wilderness, traveling to the 
promised land, Moses was commanded by God 
to build the Tabernacle and to place therein 
a golden candlestick of six branches and 
twenty-two lights, to be made of beaten gold 
and designed, when 
lighted, to resemble 
the appearance of fire 
in the burning bush 
as seen by him in the 
wilderness. 
The influence of 
this design may be 
seen today both in the 
magnificent altar and 
paschal candlesticks 
of the great cathedrals 
of Europe and in the 
synagogues of Russia. 
The Jews have been 
artificers in gold, sil¬ 
ver, copper, brass and 
iron for many thou¬ 
sands of years, indeed 
from the time of Abra¬ 
ham, w r hose messenger 
presented Rebecca at 
the well with an ear¬ 
ring and bracelets of 
gold. When the Jews 
migrated to Russia 
they carried with them 
their art and crafts¬ 
manship, which they 
have maintained for 
twelve hundred years, 
giving to Russia its 
fame for marvelous 
works in brass, cop¬ 
per and other metals. 
This same art and 
craftsmanship will en- 
Of the many candlesticks in Mr. Holden’s collection, one of the finest private collections in 
America, are the excellent examples of Galician work in the pair at the right. Those beside 
the statue are Russian and the pair at the left are synagogue lights 
A Hannukah light with 
double candle sockets 
The Hannukah is used dur¬ 
ing the Feast of Illuminations. 
