WoW Reliquary and Chain
This is a sterling silver reliquary with niello, based on the Reliquary Pendant with Hounds Coursing a Hare at The Met Cloisters — a 14th-century gothic piece that I fell in love with and had to try.
The central scene — featuring the Double Headed Phoenix vanquishing the Kittyhawk from the field — was carved from hard wax with a pointy tool and small files. The design was scratched into the wax with a needle set into a dowel rod, which is not an especially efficient tool, but it removes only tiny amounts at a time and that’s what you want when you can’t put wax back. The niello case was formed separately, sketched in pencil directly onto soft wax, then cast and fitted around the carved piece. The niello itself was made using Theophilus’s 10th-century formula, though I didn’t follow his exact methods because I am one person and did not have an assistant at the time I needed more niello. Doesn’t seem to have made an appreciable difference.
The chain is a simple loop-in-loop style in sterling silver. Historically these would be fine silver or copper with fused links, but sterling doesn’t fuse well, so each link is soldered individually. <!– PICTURE: Back of reliquary showing niello detail –>
It’s honestly a practice piece. If I make another, the case will be far more ornate — a reliquary deserves that — and I’ll spend a year or two practicing engraving first. I’d also like to not cast such a heavy block of silver for the central element. That weight is inexperience, not intent.
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