Rabbi Avraham Shag's Ethrog Container – Hungary, mid 19th century

Rabbi Avraham Shag's Ethrog Container – Hungary, mid 19th century
An Ethrog container which belonged to Rabbi Avraham Shag. Hungary, mid 19th cent.
Cloth covered cardboard; embroidery.
The container is shaped as a small pouch with a handle on the upper part of the lid, attached with two hinges and a clasp (missing). The outer side of the container is covered with dark brown velvet (faded), silver thread embroidery and delicate decorations in the shape of flowers with several beads and sequins.
The container belonged to the Gaon Rabbi Avraham Shag-Zwebner (1801-1876), an exceptional disciple of the "Chatam Sofer", author of "Ohel Avraham" and "Drashot Ha-Rosh". In 1827 served as rabbi in Schaltmannsdorf (Cseszte) and in 1851 as Rebbe of Kobersdorf. At the age of 72 he immigrated to Jerusalem with his disciple Rabbi Yossef Haim Sonnenfeld. Rabbi Shag died in Jerusalem in 1876 and was buried in the Pharisees section of the Mount of Olives cemetery. His will was that no title should be inscribed on his grave except that he immigrated to Eretz Israel at an advanced age. In their obituaries the leading rabbis of Jerusalem did not hesitate to describe Rabbi Avraham as a Divine Spirit.
The Ethrog container presented here was passed on through generations of the Shag-Zwebner family, to Rabbi Aharon (son of Avraham Shag), from him to his daughter Golda Zweig nee Zwebner, wife of Michael Yehuda Leib Zweig in Debrecen. When her husband Michael Leib died at a young age, Golda immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1881 (one of their children was Shlomo Zalman Zweig, artist, of the old Yishuv in Jerusalem, who created "Shiviti" plaques and papercuts in the early days of the 20th cent). Golda married one of the Solomon family members. Golda claimed that the box was passed on in the family through several generations and was used by her grandfather Avraham Shag during his days as rabbi in Kobersdorf. (attached is a letter confirming that the box was purchased from the Solomon-Zwebner family descendants; for additional information about the family, see attached material).
Height: 15 cm, width: 18 cm, depth: 12 cm. Fair condition. Missing hinges, missing clasp, faded velevet and damages to some of the decorations.