Reliquary
A small box in possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London appears to be simple in its outer form and modest in its dimensions. In addition to a plaster cast in Halle, a metal cast is held among the church treasure of St. Godehard in Hildesheim. The object probably served for the storage of relics. Reliquaries vary greatly in their design and dimensions because of their contents, which can encompass whole body relics and small relic particles, and may include body relics (primary relics), object relics and contact relics (secondary relics). In this case, the reliquary is a rectangular box resting on four clawed feet that measures 17 x 10 cm long and reaches a height of 10 cm. A box of such dimensions can only have been used for the storage of smaller particles. It is decorated with a frieze with apostle medallions orbiting on the sides and the enthroned Christ flanked by Maria and John, and two bishops on the cover. This arrangement of the figures around Christ does not permit us to draw any firm conclusions about the relics kept in the box.