chasse reliquary (3-D printed replica)

Rajat Shanbhag, artist

born 1990

chasse reliquary (3-D printed replica), 2017

Where object was made: Lawrence, Kansas, United States

Material/technique: plastic

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 16 x 14 x 5.5 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 6 5/16 x 5 1/2 x 2 3/16 in

Credit line: Gift of the artist

Accession number: C2017.076.01

Not on display

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This church-shaped object is a 3D printed replica modeled after a reliquary, a container used to hold sacred items associated with a saint. Reliquaries typically occupied an important place in churches or cathedrals, typically behind the main altar or an altar in a side chapel. The original container, currently on display in the upstairs exhibition The Object Speaks, is made of gilt copper and is richly decorated with enamel and glass insets that could have originally been precious jewels. The gable ends are engraved with full-length standing figures (identified as saints) with blue circular enamel decorations in between. The top crest of the object is perforated with keyhole shaped openings that echo the lock below, which is intended to safeguard the holy objects contained inside the reliquary.