TWENTIETH CENTURY CHANGES TO THE BIMA AT NEW WEST END:
A REGRETTABLE HISTORY
Simon Mirwitch
The bima at the New West End was designed by George Ashdown Audsley. It was constructed in 1879 with the Wardens’ ‘pew’ being added in 1895. The most superb noble materials are incorporated in its construction (five different coloured figured marbles are used, as well as black tournai for banding and the sills and grey marble for the steps.) The detail of the architectural decoration shows extraordinary imagination and variety. (There are no repeat designs in any of the capitals of the miniature colonnade – these capitals are a sustained set of variations using "neo-Grecian" acanthus and volutes.) Most importantly, the bima was and remains a brilliantly effective architectural composition and a dramatic focus for the shul.
Because the bima is so superb and impressive a structure, it came as quite a shock to find out that a number of very important detailed changes were made to its appearance during the course of the last century. I discovered these changes when recently closely examining blow-ups and computer enhancements of some 19th century photographs of the shul interior. The changes I am about to describe were all significant. Regrettably each of them represented a loss and a detraction from the full original beauty of the bima.
The Reader’s Slope
The reader’s slope at the eastern end of the bima is made of a slab of finely figured marble – now normally hidden below a cloth cover. The earliest surviving photographs of the shul interior, dating from the 1880’s, show a very different arrangement. The sides of the reader’s slope are left exposed, displaying the fine marble. A small Turkish carpet is draped over the central section. On the right hand side of the reader’s slope, on top of the carpet, is an exquisite Persian fringed rug, on which the Sefer Torah was laid when being read .
The whole effect must have been richly exotic and very beautiful. The enlargements of these details in the nineteenth century photos evoke the atmosphere of a 17th century Dutch painting.
The Curtaining to the Colonnade
The Bima was designed with the intention that a curtain should run right round, behind the miniature colonnade. This curtaining is shown in place on all the 19th century photographs and illustrations of the interior I have so far been able to trace. According to Mr Elkan Levy, replacement curtaining survived until the early 60’s when it was finally removed. The bima curtaining was an important component of the original design: providing a unifying backdrop to the articulation of the colonnade; avoiding an aesthetically displeasing view through the arcade of people’s legs and lower bodies; and helping to direct the eye upward to what is taking place on the bima.
I haven’t been able to trace any precise record as to the material used and colour of the original 19th century curtaining. However there is a strong probability that it will have matched the curtaining to the original pulpit, which was "sage green silk." The original pulpit had a brass rail frame with a curtained lower part. It stood on the same plinth as the present pulpit, which was installed 1907 as a memorial to Rev Singer.
The Western Pair of Bracket Lamps
The pair of bracket lamps at the western end of the bima are of a remarkable design for very early electric lights. They were probably installed circa 1895 (we have a photo from about that time showing them bound up with insulating tape, probably during the connecting up process.) They incorporate decorative motifs which are similar to some of those used in the magnificent electric menorahs which stand on either side of the Ark. The truly original feature of these lamps is that they were designed as ‘circular menorahs’. Though sadly, this unique design has been modified (i.e. spoiled), the ‘seven branches’ supporting a circular gallery can still be detected.
The nineteenth century photos show that originally each of the branches supported a candle-holder shaped socket which held a candle shaped electric light - the gallery rail being surmounted by seven electric lights: a circular menorah!
At some time, probably the late nineteen twenties or early thirties, the candle sockets were removed and the present internally lit glass bowls fitted – giving the lamps an inappropriately 30’s appearance and negating the unique nature of the design.
The Despoiling of the Gilding
Probably in the early 1930’s, and as part of a philistine decorative scheme for the shul, the capitals of the miniature colonnade were crudely daubed with gold paint and the original gilding was obliterated.
Hope for the Future?
Despite the sad changes I have described our bima remains an impressive and wonderful work. The changes do however represent a lessening from the full glory and completeness of the conception. However, potentially at least these changes are reversible. Given a sensitive and research based approach these important features could be reinstated (not restored – too often a weasel word) and appropriate conservation achieved. This must be our hope for the future.