Esther scroll, housed in decorated silver case. Vienna, 1886-1890; engraved inscription dated 1890.
Ink on treated parchment; silver, turned, sawed, repoussé and engraved (marked with maker's mark, initials KW = Karl Weichesmüller, active 1870-1893).
Esther scroll inscribed in neat Stam script, on five membranes of treated parchment; 16 columns of text, 20 lines per column.
The scroll is housed in a cylindrical silver case decorated with wide bands bearing a floral pattern in relief, framed by vertical borders with a blank, patternless surface. At the top of the case is a crown-shaped ornament surmounted by a wreath of leaves and flowers. The case's borders, bar pull, and handle are all adorned with recurrent patterns of delicate zigzag lines. In the center is a large cartouche, engraved (in Hebrew) with the owner's name and the date: "Sasson Farhi… 5650 [1890]" (possibly, the Sasson Farhi mentioned here is a known individual who lived somewhere in the Ottoman Empire – probably Bulgaria – in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; his name is mentioned in a number of newspaper articles from this period).

Height of parchment: 13.5 cm; height of case (incl. handle): 36 cm. Minor damage to bar pull and floral ornament at top. Minor damage to first membrane. Handwritten notation (Hebrew, more recent) in lower margin of first membrane: "Eretz Israel 14.3.1949"; scroll more recent than case.

Provenance: Estate of Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf Gottlieb (1910-1983).