A Silver and Silver Filigree Purim Rattle with Bird Finial

#18363: A Silver and Silver Filigree Purim Rattle with Bird Finial
Continental, 20th Century
Height 21cm, width 19.5cm, depth 3.5cm
This engraved silver rattle is a Purim gragger (Hebrew ra'ashan, Yiddish gragger), a noisemaker sounded during the reading of the Book of Esther. It is built around a ratchet. A flat, shaped blade is pinned to a fluted toothed cog set on a turned baluster handle. When the handle is swung, the blade sweeps over the teeth and produces a loud clacking. The handle rises to a domed collar and is topped by a small cast bird.
Both faces of the blade are engraved with zigzag borders, scrolls and radiating rosettes. They are also set with raised rectangular panels of silver filigree, centred on openwork rosettes. The filigree is made of twisted wire coiled into spirals and scrolls and studded with granulation. The same wirework and beading are carried across the piece, from the panels to the finial, so that the small flat surfaces are covered with ornament.
The gragger belongs to the celebration of Purim, which recalls the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from Haman's plot as told in the Book of Esther. During the public reading of the scroll, the congregation sounds rattles, stamps and shouts at every mention of Haman's name. Drowning out the name fulfils the custom of blotting out his memory. Graggers were made in materials ranging from wood and tin to worked silver. Silver examples such as this one, combining filigree, granulation and engraving, were made for ceremonial use and for display.
$9,750