Circumcision Bench

In Ashkenazic communities, circumcision benches with two seats were sometimes used from the nineteenth century on, one for the sandek, the godfather on whose lap the baby boy is circumcised, and one reserved for the prophet Elijah. This painted ritual circumcision bench was crafted in Údlice, Bohemia. The text of the circumcision service is inscribed on the seat back to the right; on the seat back to the left side, the inscription mentions the name of the donors, together with verses from Genesis 17:12 and Jeremiah 30:18.