This candleholder and long elliptical plate by Iraqi artist Oded Halahmy is made from cast aluminum. A series of 7 pomegranates are inlaid into the plate and filled with red enamel. Two pomegranates sit on top of the tray portion and hold candles in the center of the stems. Like countless New Yorkers who arrived from distant lands, Oded Halahmy has a rich personal history of exile, migration, and travels. Born in the old city of Baghdad in 1938, Halahmy came from a family of Orthodox Jews with deep roots in ancient Babylonian culture. Although New York has been his home for over 45 years, memories of Iraq left an indelible imprint on his life and work. Known for his dynamic yet often playful figurative sculptures in wood and bronze, he fills his work with images—albeit abstracted from reality—that evoke the landscape, architecture, and rich colors of the Middle East. Palm trees, doves, pomegranates, temples, and age-old symbols are central themes in his work. Halahmy's work is included in the collection of the Jewish Museum. The Oded Halahmy pieces at the Jewish Museum Shop are a special Shop collection, not a museum exhibition. Fits standard size shabbat candles.