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Skull Reliquary Box
$29.95
This Skull Reliquary, or container for relics, is directly cast from an old one we brought back from Germany dating back to the 1860s. It is made of cast stone which we paint by hand. The skull measures approximately 5.25 inches tall, 5.25 inches wide and 7 inches deep. The dimensions of the inside of the box are approximately 3 inches long, 2 inches across and 1.75 inches deep. Made in the USA. Please note: this item is hand-painted so it will vary slightly from the one featured in our photos here.
The use of reliquaries has long been important to many cultures and religions throughout history. Depending on the tradition, they have contained objects considered magical, or the bones of ancestors, and are commonly constructed with a guardian figure attached to the reliquary. Reliquaries provide a means of protecting and displaying relics, which many believe are endowed by God with the grace of miraculous powers. They range in size from simple pendants or rings to coffin-like containers, to very elaborate ossuaries. Many were designed with portability in mind, often being exhibited in public or carried in procession on the saint's feast day or on other holy days. The earliest reliquaries were essentially boxes. From about the end of the 10th century, reliquaries in the shape of the relics they housed also became popular; hence, for instance, Pope Alexander I's skull was housed in a head-shaped reliquary. Similarly, the bones of saints were often housed in reliquaries that recalled the shape of the original body part, such as an arm or a foot.
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