Nutcracker set used by Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn – Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch.
Nutcracker (silverplated, maker's mark: Jennings Bros) and five picks. Placed in original fabric lined wooden box.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… the set of nutcracker and picks that my father used when traveling. When he went to Chicago for the second time he had this set with him". Dated 12th September 1989.

Rebbe Rayatz paid two visits to Chicago – the first time during his trip to the United States in 1930, on which occasion he spent close to two months in Chicago (Shevat-Nissan, until after Pesach), and a second time on 7th-14th Shevat 1942 (some two years after he immigrated to the United States in 1940). His second visit to Chicago was a week long, and was interrupted upon receiving the news of the passing of his mother, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, wife of Rebbe Rashab (Shabbat, 13th Shevat 1942). In 1944, Kuntres Bikur Chicago was published, edited by his son-in-law R. Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, future Lubavitcher Rebbe, containing sermons and Chassidic discourses which the Rayatz delivered during the course of his second stay in Chicago in 1942.

Nutcracker and five picks, placed in custom-made wooden box. Approx. 16X10 cm. One pick lacking. Overall good condition. Minor defects. Stains to fabric lining. Metal clasp partially detached.