RELIQUARY Help Please

No it doesn’t open

 

Lovely item Wendy. Nice find.

 

I think that the reliquary is for the woman in the plaque and that she is a saint.If you look at St Margaret's coat of arms this will give you an idea. If you can enlarge the coat of arms it will be a line to investigate.

 

the croissants and the ducks are widespread on crests.
https://www.google.ch/search?q=blas...i=w9hlYP-KD5nUaee1oKgK&bih=579&biw=1266&hl=de

https://www.google.ch/search?q=blas...i=1thlYIf7IoTsa_zfooAL&bih=579&biw=1266&hl=de

but who married who ?

 

The things she's holding should be a clue to her identity. Now, if I had a clue to what she's holding.

 

good idea. a Bible ? The memoirs of Larry Flint ?

 

She is Holding a rose

 

maybe it is for a baby with their hair inside?

 

Really, kind of a wonderful piece...


The coat of arms depicts merlettes/martlets (no feet, small or missing beaks) rather than ducks, the horizontal hatching on the shield indicates the color azure/blue, the horizontal/vertical cross-hatching on the martlets indicates they're sable/black in color. There is a very similar French coat of arms associated with a Charles de Louvencourt, now used as the coat of arms for the village of Blangy-Tronville, but the fess and croissants/crescents on that coat of arms are gold, and they're left without hatching on the reliquary, indicating silver in color rather than gold, which would have dotting. The coronet indicates a French marquis, and an old book on French nobility mentions the de Louvencourt family held that hereditary title.





https://armorialdefrance.fr/page_blason.php?ville=2314





https://www.heraldica.org/topics/martlet.htm




Coronet of a French marquis/marquise:





Here is the excerpt from the book on French nobility:



https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annuaire_général_heraldique_pour_1904/kHBUAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0



Marie-Joachim-Elisabeth de Louvencourt, mentioned last above, was the founder of the 'Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament' in the chapel of the convent of the Poor Clares of Amiens:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couvent_des_Clarisses_d'Amiens

A book written about her shortly after her death:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Abrégé_de_la_vie_et_des_vertus_de_Made/5ti-EraaMeEC?hl=en&gbpv=0



Also found there was a convent "founded in 1641 by Elisabeth de Louvencourt, widow of Antoine Trudaine, Treasurer of the Kingdom, and mother of a Carmelite nun", where "The Blessed Martyrs of Compiègne" were executed in 1794:
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/806-the-blessed-martyrs-of-compiegne



Pretty much all I've got, and am done looking around...



~Cheryl

 

OUTSTANDING Research !!!!

I got bushed , just reading it !!!

 

This might be worth a second look:



https://translate.google.com/transl...4e-4183-93ae-796e7f66bff4&prev=search&pto=aue
The congregation of the Dames du Sacré-Coeur de Marie et de Jésus, known as Dames de Louvencourt, appeared in Amiens in 1817, following the statutes approved for the Ursuline Dames of the Sacred Heart. Their own statutes were formalized in 1827, when they were allowed to settle in the city. The convent was built according to the plans of the architect Herbault and replaced by new constructions carried out according to the plans of the architect Emile Riquier. The ceremony of the laying of the first stone took place in 1898. Following the law of 1904, the indebted nuns were forced to sell the convent.

 

must have been a lady of some financial means.

nice "chapel".

 

bingo.
http://dechav.free.fr/armorial/blason.php?id=Louvencourt

 

Thank you John
Very interesting !!

 

Thank you for your very interesting and helpful research , much appreciated

 

Well found !! Thank you very much

 

I don't know where @DragonflyWink found it, but there belongs the credit.

 

Thank you.

I've an interest in heraldry (even designed several fantasy COAs many years ago for some friends into SCA/Ren Faires), and also love a nice engraving, so when I took a closer look, could see the birds were not ducks - armed with the proper terms, the de Louvencourt name came up a few times, along with the images of the coat of arms from the French village. Though keeping in mind that religious relics aren't exclusive to sainthood, even used my very rusty French to slog through the book on Mademoiselle de Louvencourt, with its florid antiquated text, wondering if, since the title includes that she 'died in the odor of sanctity', it was written in hopes of having her beatified, but found no clear evidence of that.

Took quite a bit of time to search and then organize what I'd found - probably could have spent the time more productively on my endless list of chores, but I enjoyed it...

~Cheryl