Runner Up, 1998 Philip and Sylvia Spertus Judaica Prize. Havdalah Spice Container, Josh Burde, Johannesburg, South Africa, circa 1998.

Chicago, 1998: The Havdalah Spice Container, Philip and Sylvia Spertus Judaica Prize. Spertus Museum, 1998.

Gomberg, Betsy, and Susan Schaalman Youdovin, eds. The Havdalah Spice Container, Philip and Sylvia Spertus Judaica Prize. Chicago, Spertus Museum, 1998, pp. 20-21.

The artist's commentary from the 1998 catalogue:

It is said that the many-chambered pomegranate contains 613 seeds, corresponding to the 613 mitzvot. The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe said that every Jew "...is filled with mitzvot as every pomegranate is filled with seeds." My spice container contains segments of this fruit, which can be distributed to several persons, allowing them to enjoy the perfume of Havdalah simultaneously.

The outer pomegranate form of my segmental spice container is made of hand-smithed copper; the technique heightens the organic effect and suggests the reddish coppery color of the fruit. The pomegranate form is made up of four segments fixed in position by a central pin and crown made of hand-smithed sterling silver. On removal of the central pin and crown, the insides of the separate segments are revealed. Each is made of sterling silver with a hand-pierced geometric design to allow free permeation of the aromas within, and each is hinged to open for filling spices.