Hanukkah lamp from the Netherlands

Brass Hanukkah lamp (menorah) with eight-branched candle sockets and a moveable ninth candle socket (Shamash). The style of the menorah belongs to the Eastern European style of menorahs of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which continued into the early twentieth century in North European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands. The round base sitting on three fish-shaped legs is characteristic of this style and period. The bird figure at top of lamp is a peculiar decoration. Stylized birds appear on many Judaica objects during this period, influenced by the style of menorahs from African or Eastern countries, symbolizing the Garden of Eden or other biblical episodes and places. The style and the structure of the main body and the branches follow the ancient tradition of referencing the central stem and branches of the Moriah plant, a species of Salvia growing in Israel and the Sinai Peninsula. The size and the design of the object suggest that it belonged to a wealthy family or was a donation to a synagogue. Screws in the round base look newer; original screws could have been removed and replaced.