The Moser Collection

 

City Hall, Bradford.

City Hall, Bradford. Photo: Benjamin Dunn

Buried away somewhere in the vaults of Bradford’s fine Victorian City Hall there is a collection of silver artefacts which were discovered by the Making Their Mark project in the early summer of 2012. It emerged that Nigel Grizzard knew someone who had in their possession an antler horned silver table lighter, the sort used for lighting cigars after dinner parties in the past. The owner of this piece of silverware informed him that it was one of a pair, and that there were similar items held in the Bradford City Halls glass display cabinets.

So later that week researcher Ben headed down to the Town Hall, as it is still known and requested to see the silver items. Upon his admission to the bowels of the building, he was also made aware by the staff that they had yet more precious artefacts, dubbed ‘The Moser Hoard’ affiliated with Jacob Moser, who was Lord Mayor of Bradford between 1910-11 and a key benefactor to founding of the state of Israel in the early 20th Century.

As Ben waited in the office of the Lord Mayors Diary Secretary, a lady from the office went away to retrieve several attractive and historic pieces of metalwork.

These included an ornate scroll casing which held a piece of parchment inscribed in Hebrew, as well as another, smaller silver tube casing which holds a Megillah, the Scroll of Esther, a pointer and a pair of silver antler horn cigar lighters, which are slightly different to the one Nigel saw.

The story goes that the lighters were given by Moser as payment for some sort of debt to a friend or business associate.

Objects in the Moser Collection – Megillah Scroll, Pointer, Antler Horned lighters and Silver Casing

 

 

Scroll with casing and pointer

Bazalel School of Art  parchment scroll

 Below is a translation of the Bezalel-Moser Scroll courtesy of Rabbi Eli Pink. It was sent to Jacob Moser by the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem after its establishment in 1906. Moser had been an early supporter of the Academy, generously donating funds for its support.

A scroll of blessing
for the Celebration of Seventy Years
You, who from afar from us, and your soul is constantly aware of our blossoming country,
that is constantly the focus of your aspirations and dreams
accept herewith our blessing for your celebration of seventy years of age,
and our wishes that you should see the seeds that you have sown in this Land growing and flowering
and in the bright future you should merit to see the growth of the two institutions that you concern yourself with, the institutions of Torah and Trade
and to celebrate together the celebration of your 120th birthday.
[signed]
on behalf of the Bezalel Institute
Kindly translated in June 2013 by the honourable Rabbi Eli Pink of Leeds Chabad Lubavich Synagogue