Filigree spice box from Austria-Hungary

This spice box (bessamim) is intended for the Havdala ceremony, at the close of Shabbat, when aromatic spices are inhaled after a blessing has been pronounced over fragrances. In the Austro-Hungarian sphere, silver filigree silversmithing produced numerous formal variants: while the tower remains classical, one also encounters boxes in the shape of a fruit, fish, flower, or mill, executed in twisted and soldered silver wires. This filigree, light and openwork, allows the fragrance of the spices to pass through. These objects testify to the inventiveness of Jewish and local silversmithing in Central Europe and its taste for picturesque forms.