A spectacular life-size bust-form reliquary dating to the 18th century made of gilt, silvered, and painted wood housing a large historically important first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relic of Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary. The relic is affixed inside of an round glass-fronted opening and identified on paper cedula label in as S. Annae, Matris BVM (Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary). On the back of the reliquary, the opening to access the relic cavity is protected by a hinged wooden door with a lock, missing its original key. The relic is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax with an imprint of a coat of arms of Bishop Francesco Vivani (†1767), Bishop of Camerino and Fabriano, Italy (1746-1767). Suitable for public veneration.
Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus according to apocryphal Christian and Islamic tradition. She is a holy patron of Canada, carpenters; childless people; equestrians; grandparents; homemakers/housewives; lacemakers; lost articles; Fasnia (Tenerife); Mainar; Detroit; miners; mothers; moving house; old-clothes dealers; poverty; pregnancy; seamstresses; stablemen; sterility; mothers; and children.