Tomb of Max Eberstadt, Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Synagogue Cemetery)

Tomb of Max Eberstadt, 1891, designed by Edward Burne-Jones, in Willesden Jewish Cemetery. The design of the sombre ledger slab conforms with Jewish custom, which discourages ostentation in burial, whilst incorporating restrained but sophisticated design elements.

MATERIALS: the tomb is made of stone, the face now having a reddish hue. The central roundel, and a band following the south, west and north margins of the tomb are of darker grey stone. The decoration and lettering is in lead, the lettering now largely lost, or displaced.

DESCRIPTION: a rectangular ledger, of two steps with chamfered edges, resting on a low plinth. The maker’s name is marked on the plinth: ‘MONUMENTAL Co KENSAL GREEN’. The surface of the tomb has an asymmetrical design, with a large central roundel bearing the curvilinear motif of a cut branch, probably laurel. The inscription runs round three sides of the tomb, with Hebrew lettering below, and English above, in Gothic script. The inscription is now largely illegible, although the design drawing indicates that this includes Eberstadt’s name and dates, and the Biblical texts 1 Samuel 29:6, “Surely as the Lord liveth thou has been upright… for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto this day”, and Proverbs 27:19, “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man’. This is confirmed by the legible final words on the tomb itself, which read ‘[...] the heart of man to man’.