Favourite Objects

Staff and volunteers at the Museum have chosen these objects as some of our favourites.

My favourite object is Percy Levy's Book of Life. The Levy children were encouraged to keep a scrapbook to house mementoes of their lives. Percy's childhood memories in early 20th century London include family weddings, glowing school reports, and the arrival of the motorcar. However, his life took a dramatic turn when he spent two years serving as an Intelligence Officer on the Western Front during the First World War, recorded here through dramatic reconnaissance photographs and maps. Sadly Percy's already mammoth scrapbook stops in 1920 - otherwise it would be an even more amazing chronicle of the 20th century.

Curators have lots of favourite things because they are uniquely privileged in being allowed to handle objects and notice the finer details of their design and construction. From a rich and extensive collection of Hanukah lamps, one that at first glance seems modest by comparison with its companions, stands out for me. This Dutch pewter lamp dates from the mid-18th century. A shell crest is flanked by semi-prostrate winged figures above a delicately engraved tulip flower. I find the oil overflow device irresistible. Two little dolphins, one each side, cavort upside down while holding beautifully worked drip buckets on their snouts. Pewter is an acquired taste and most visitors prefer silver, but the best pewter glows like grey velvet, as does this lovely example of the pewterer's craft.

One of my favourite exhibits is the lovingly embroidered sampler made by Mary Hyams in memory of Hyam Moses: a relative or perhaps a friend. The commemorative poem is surrounded by a symmetrical pattern of trees and leaves. They were probably embroidered first leaving little room for the poem. The letter N has nowhere to go!

Rimmonim (and Havdalah spice containers) often reflect the shape of towers and church steeples of the city in which they were made. These Rimmonim have a real "London look". They were made by Edward Aldrich, who took as his model the spire of St Bride's, Fleet Street. St Bride's, one of Sir Christopher Wren's greatest achievements, was completed in 1680, except for the steeple, which was completed in 1701 (the year of Bevis Marks Synagogue's completion). We can rightly claim that the Jewish Museum displays a pair of Rimmonim "as designed by Sir Christopher Wren"!

This depiction of the tailoring industry up to the Second World War pulls at my heartstrings. The memory of my father, brother, uncles and many relations working under conditions as shown in the photograph is typical of how many of the original immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century progressed, so that their children and grandchildren could flourish.