Chasse (casket)
A châsse or reliquary box is a shape commonly used in medieval metalwork for reliquaries and other containers. To the modern eye the form resembles a house, though a tomb or church was more the intention, with an oblong base, straight sides and two sloping top faces meeting at a central ridge, often marked by a raised strip and decoration. From the sides there are therefore triangular "gable" areas. The casket usually stands on straight stumpy feet, and to allow access either one of the panels, but not on the front face, or the wooden bottom opens on hinges, usually with a lock. The shape possibly developed from a similar shape of sarcophagus that goes back to Etruscan art, or from Early Medieval Insular art, where there are a number of reliquaries or cumdachs ("book-shrines") with similar shapes, like the Monymusk Reliquary, although in these typically there are four sloping panels above, so no "gables"; a 13th-century example of this type is the chasse of Saint Exupère (see gallery of images, below). The word derives, via the French châsse, from the Latin capsa, meaning "box".
