Grace Gunning

 Now Available! Shop Now at MyAmericanCrafts for intriguing Reliquary Boxes by Grace Gunning.

Reliquary Boxes have an ancient mystical quality. They originated as special containers to hold sacred relics. Now, Grace creates unique Reliquary boxes with a modern edge and an array of symbolic  images to hold things precious to you or someone you love.

Constructed of  copper, you can feel the richness of the metal. It can bring warmth to your hand or decor.

Copper has been in use since 9000 BC as jewelry and Cleopatra used copper as mirrors. The goddess Venus is linked to copper. It is in our blood (women tend to have a bit more than men). Mystics feel copper connects energy of the spirit and we know scientifically it conducts electricity and heat better than any metal. It is a very special metal, part of us and our lives, and a pleasure to work with. 

"I love boxes and always have. I’ve used them as time capsules since I was little growing up in Blacklick Ohio and still have most of them. I actually started making my own boxes as a teenager using stained glass.

 I found old machines from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that had been used in metal fabrication and taught myself how to form a box from metal. Someone looked at one of my early creations and said, “it looks like a reliquary”. I’ve been learning how to make Reliquary Boxes ever since the late 1990’s. They are my favorite things to make. I hope you can feel that when you hold one in your hands.

The most unique of all the Reliquary Boxes are the Changelings.
I love them. They are the most challenging to create. They came about by making a mistake. All the boxes have tiny silvered rolling balls inside the lids. One day I poured in too many and they covered the image below. Eureka! It looked like a “screen” and I thought a picture could be under the beads and would be revealed as the beads rolled back and at the same time a picture could be on top over the tiny beads. So the Changelings were born. 

I have worked with my co-worker and friend, Sandy Bartlett, for more than a dozen years now. She’s known as ‘Sandy the Great’. Sandy does almost all the bending and patinaing and padding and organizing. Know these are made in a very happy and fun atmosphere with lots of laughing going on.

Each box is signed and dated and comes with a card inside telling a bit about me and the boxes and a definition of reliquary (a receptacle for an old treasure)."

~ Grace