Purim plate
Not on view
The small pewter plate with Hebrew inscriptions was used on the Jewish holiday of Purim, a joyous communal festival observed for centuries. This plate was used to distribute traditional gifts, sweets or food on the occasion of Purim. Two names appear on the plate indicating the donor and possibly the recipient, one on the top and one at the bottom. Pewter vessels were commonly used in domestic spaces for the middle and lower classes. The Hebraic inscriptions that frame the plate indicate how the holiday should be observed with special gifts and providing for the less fortunate as noted in Chapter 9:22 and 9:31 in the Book of Esther. In the center are two figures, Haman, (the advisor to King Ahasuerus) and Mordecai, (Esther’s righteous cousin). Haman is dressed in eighteenth-century military costume with a sword, leading Mordecai on a horse as mentioned in Chapter 6 in Book of Esther.
