Oval glass-fronted silver pendant reliquary theca housing the first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relic of Saint Apollonia of Alexandria. A sizable relic is affixed to a gilt-paper starburst on a ground of salmon-colored silk, surrounded by silver wire ornamentation and identified in Latin on a fancy manuscript cedula label as Ex Oss. S. Apolloniae V. & M. (of the bone of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr). On the back, the theca is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of Fr. Francesco Maria Ginori (†1775), Bishop of Fiesole, Italy (1736–1775).
Saint Apollonia of Alexandria (†249) was one of a group of virgin martyrs who suffered in Alexandria during a local uprising against the Christians prior to the persecution of Decius. According to church tradition, her torture included having all of her teeth violently pulled out or shattered. For this reason, she is popularly regarded as the patroness of dentistry and those suffering from toothache or other dental problems. She is venerated in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Oriental Orthodoxy, and her feast day is celebrated on February 9.