Berndorf Silver Plate Etrog Box, circa 1900

Product Details

Antique Berndorf silver plate etrog box *, made in Austria.  The elegantly simple box is a timeless keepsake box or jewellery chest and as it has a gold washed interior, it was likely intended as an Etrog box.  Either way, it is a beauty in very good condition inside and out and the key and lock mechanism is in working order.  Made by Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik (in English, Berndorf Metalware Factory / BMF), established in 1843 in Berndorf, Austria-Hungary, present day Austria.  The box has the Berndorf symbol used circa 1880-1927; a rhombus framing BMF over a bear in profile and AS II, indicating Alpacca Silber (Silver) grade 2.

4 1/2” (11.5cm) by 3 1/4” (8.3cm), 3 1/8” (8cm) high.

* In central and Eastern Europe it was common for hinged silver boxes to be made that were not function-specific.  The boxes were described as sugar boxes or jewellery boxes.  However, with a gold washed interior they were appropriate boxes to hold an Etrog, symbolically important during the Jewish celebration of Sukkot.