German repoussé silver etrog box

This box protects the citron (etrog), one of the four plants (the 'four species') waved during the festival of Sukkot, which must remain intact and fragrant throughout the seven days of the festival. To preserve it, it is kept in a case, often fitted with a padded interior. German examples, in repoussé silver, frequently take the form of the fruit itself, imitating its dimpled rind, and rest on a foot with a lid often surmounted by a leafy stem. This object belongs to the festive silverware of Ashkenazic communities, in which it showcases a fruit central to the autumnal ritual.