Publisher, The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1955
Hardback, no dust-jacket, pp. 168 + 185 b/w illus.
Condition, Used – Very Good, bound in black book-cloth with silver gilt lettering to the spine and front + gilt decorative design. The cover is tight and clean; apart from an inscription on the front end-paper the text block is free of foxing and highlights.

Jewish ceremonial art discusses the objects used by Jews for ritual purposes. Because enhancing a mitzvah by performing it with an especially beautiful object is considered a praiseworthy way of honouring God’s commandments, Judaism has a long tradition of commissioning ritual objects from craftsmen and artists. Most of the items in the book come from the baroque era and its rococo successor; if they are more recent, the baroque spirit (with modifications) was retained even after Europe had entered a new period. Ideologically, the Jews were incapable of liking the heaven-directed Gothic style or its metaphysical basis (only in some of the spice-boxes is the favourite turret form a faint reminder of the Middle Ages). They did, however, develop a great affinity for the baroque, which brought “the heavens down into the terrestrial orbit in manifestations of glory and splendour.”