Balsam box

Description

A turret-shaped balsam box with a hexagonal, openwork container for herbs, resting on a round, moulded base and a baluster-shaped stem, topped with a conical roof crowned with a sphere and a flag on a spire. Inhaling the aroma of fragrant herbs is one of the elements of the Havdalah ceremony (Hebrew for ‘separation’), which concludes the Sabbath and definitively separates the sacred time from the ordinary. For this purpose, special herb containers, known as balsaminki (Hebrew: besamim – fragrant herbs, roots, spices), are used in Jewish homes. After the head of the household – the master of the house – has recited the blessings, each participant smells the herbs, whose scent symbolises the fragrance of the departing Sabbath, and according to tradition is meant to bring comfort following the departure of the extra soul which every Jew receives for the duration of the Sabbath, enabling them to study the Torah more deeply than on weekdays. Although the scent of herbs inspired artists to create containers shaped like flowers or aromatic fruits, the most popular and common form of herb containers was the openwork turret.