Chasse Reliquary
CultureFrench
Datelate 12th-early 13th century
MediumCopper with enamel and gilding on wood
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/4 × 9 × 3 1/2 inches (23.5 × 22.86 × 8.89 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number46-35
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 106
Collections
DescriptionRomanesque chasse depicting crucifixion and associated saints on front panel, angels with mandorlas on the ends, and three half-length angel medallions on top front cover. The back cover and panel are decorated with four-leafed rosettes.Gallery LabelThis casket-shaped reliquary is a chasse, derived from the Latin word capsa meaning coffin, and would have been used to house the relic of a saint. This chasse depicts the crucifixion of Christ, who is surrounded by Mary, John the Baptist, two saints and three angels in medallions above. It was made in the southern French city of Limoges, whose workshops formed an important center for enamel production. The reliquary's surface is enameled in the champlevé method in which designs are gouged into a metal base and filled with various colors of enamel
Mr. Mayer-Fuld, by October 11, 1945 [1];
Purchased from Mayer-Fuld by Brummer Gallery, New York, stock no. N6454, October 11, 1945-July 5, 1946 [1];
Purchased from Brummer Gallery by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1946.
NOTES:
[1] This is probably Dr. Acatiu Mayer-Fuld (b. 1892), a private collector who fled France in 1940 and emigrated to the United States.
[2] The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Cloisters Library and Archive, Brummer Gallery Records, Gothic and Renaissance bronzes, dinanderie, iron, ivory, and silver, Object inventory card number N6454.
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