Editing Cumdach (section)

==Characteristics and formats==
[[File:Stowe Missal side view.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Side-view of the shrine of the [[Stowe Missal]], mid-11th century]]
The format and function of {{lang|sga|cumdachs}} may derive from book caskets used by [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|early Christian Romans]]. Both types were intended to protect sacred text or relics, and it is plausible that Irish monasteries would seek to emulate the prestige and, according to the Irish art historian Rachel Moss, "splendour of Roman [[liturgical]] ceremonies".<ref name="m298">Moss (2014), p. 298</ref> The Irish church emphasised relics that were thought to be objects frequently used by monastic saints, rather than the body parts preferred by most of the church, although these were also kept in local versions of the house-shaped [[Chasse (casket)|chasse]] form, such as the Scottish [[Monymusk Reliquary]].<ref>Youngs, 129–130, 134–140</ref> Another Irish speciality was the [[bell-shrine]], encasing the handbells used to summon the community to services or meals, and one of the earliest reliquaries enshrined the bell of an unknown saint, and was probably worn as a test of truthfulness and to cure illness. It probably dates to the 8th century and was found in a [[peat bog]] near [[Moylough]], [[County Sligo]].<ref>Antiquities, 183; Youngs, 58–59, 129–130</ref>

As the sample size of 8 to 10 surviving examples is so small (presumably many such works were lost, mostly plundered for their precious metal or stones) they cannot be classified typologically. Their shared characteristics include that they are sealed, metal cases built to protect earlier objects of veneration originally placed in a timber core typically built from [[Taxus baccata|Yew wood]] or (less commonly) from [[oak]].<ref>Moss (2014), pp. 298, 300</ref> All of the later refurbishments were seem to have been commissioned by ambitious clergy members, and the work carried out by single metal-workers and their workshops. In the majority of instances, the master metal worker left an inscribed signature and date of completion, some of which contain wording that hints at their artistic motivations.<ref name="m299">Moss (2014), p. 299</ref>

[[File:Shrine of the Cathach reverse (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Reverse of the Shrine of the Cathach]]
All extant {{lang|sga|cumdach}}s' contain a [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] containing a central cross, a reverse with repetitive [[openwork]] patterns consisting of two highly contrasted colours (such as red and black), and sides containing interlace patterns and inscriptions.<ref name="m298" /> Distinguishing factors include size (indicating the originally intended function as for example as private fixed shrines pocketbooks, or objects to be worn over the shoulder or from belts), and their later use.<ref name="m298" /> The [[Shrine of Miosach]] retains its original chain used to carry it around, while the Soiscél Molaisse and Lough Kinsalen Shrine have fittings that once held leather straps, assumed to have held the objects in place during processional ceremonies.<ref name="m300">Moss (2014), p. 300</ref>

They are to be distinguished from the metalwork [[treasure binding]]s that probably covered most grand liturgical books of the period—the theft and loss of that covering the [[Book of Kells]] (if it was not a {{lang|sga|cumdach}} alone) is recorded. However, the designs may well have been very similar; the best surviving Insular example, the lower cover of the [[Lindau Gospels]] ({{circa|880}}) in the [[Morgan Library]] in New York, is also centred on a large cross, surrounded by interlace panels.<ref>"[https://www.themorgan.org/collection/lindau-gospels Lindau Gospels]". New York: [[Morgan Library]]. Retrieved 2 July 2021</ref> Treasure bindings were metalwork assemblies tacked onto the wooden boards of a conventional [[bookbinding]], so essentially the same technically as the faces of many {{lang|sga|cumdachs}}, which are also attached with tacks to a core wooden box.