Dear Genners:
I hope that you can help me. I just acquired a beautiful pitcher, made
of nickel silver, by the WMF (Wurttemburgische Metalfabribrik) company,
dating >from around 1905-1910. It is designed in the Jugendstil/Art
Nouveau style popular in Germany and Austria at the time. It is
inscribed "Zim" in the Roman alphabet, and the same syllable in the
Hebrew alphabet (tsaddi-yod-mem in Hebrew letters). Does anyone know
what this might refer to? Is it a family name, an acronym, or a company
name? WMF made many pieces in its heyday, but almost all of them were
intended for a German and German-speaking market, so the Hebrew letters
on the piece are a mystery. Any light you can shed would be welcome.

Sabra Waldfogel

http://www.zim.co.il/content.aspx?id=529&l=4, the web site of the ZIM shipping
company, says the following:
"The name "ZIM" was suggested by Israel’s first Minister of Transportation, David
Remez, based on a passage in the Old Testament (Numbers 24:24) in which the Hebrew
word "Zim" is used to refer to "large vessels." The name was chosen as appropriate
for the company’s main goal: to build a large merchant fleet."

So: how large *is* this vessel you've acquired? And could you post a photo of this
item to Viewmate?

Roger Lustig
Princeton, NJ USA

Sabra Waldfogel wrote: