Copper and enamel, Limoges, 1185-1195

Champlevé enamel on copper plaques on an oak core. Made in the form of a shrine; on the front are figures of Christ and nine saints. The figures stand beneath an arcade of Romanesque arches, on a light and dark blue ground, covered with gold floral scrolls. with red highlights. On the back is a diaper pattern of circles and on the sides are floral scrolls, both on a blue ground.

The ridge along the top of the casket is decorated with open work and three almond shaped enamel plaques with geometrical and floral patterns. Originally there would have been three finials, one at each end and one in the centre - the two outer finials have been lost.

In the Soltykoff collection until 1861. Bought by the dealer John Webb for 1167 francs at this sale, and sold by him to the V&A.

The front two faces of the casket show various unidentified saints, surrounding the figure of Christ at the centre of the front vertical side. He is identifiable by his cruciform halo, and his blessing gesture.

It is likely that the casket originally contained the relics of several anonymous saints. Gauthier 1987 points out the combination of representations of saints with the lower side decorated by the palla (a funerary veil placed on the tombs of saints) and the foliage of the Garden of Paradise. She suggests that this combines the idea of a saint's actual tomb with references to his/her current resting place, Heaven.

She also compares the two rows of figures, with their feet pointing outwards, the drapery style and the varying gestures, to early Christian sarcophagi.

Gauthier 1987 suggests that they were made in the 'atelier "du Queyroix"'.

Several saints surround the central figure of Christ in the lower row, and the casket may therefore have contained relics of more than one saint. It is shaped like the large house shrines found in major churches, which contained the bodies of saints. This shape was typical of reliquaries enamelled in Limoges, and reflected intentionally their function as resting places for holy relics. Here the connection is made even more explicit by the use of decoration that echoes the palla or funeral cloth placed over such shrines on special occasions.

7945-1862