Kiddush Cup and Wine Carafe (Amsterdam)

Daniel Henriques de Castro, a member of one of Amsterdam’s prominent Portuguese Jewish families, was a pharmacist, art collector, and glass engraver. He executed works for use in Jewish rituals as well as items for non-Jewish clients. Castro took after the master engraver known as Wolf, carrying on the technique of stippling, whereby numerous small dots are made upon a glass surface with the use of an etching needle and a small hammer. A painstaking process, the stipple method produces a particularly delicate, filmlike design that cannot be achieved through the more common technique of acid etching. In 1883, Castro’s son published an article about glass engraving, “Een en ander over glasgravure,” in a Dutch quarterly, detailing the processes of his father’s art.