Where medieval reliquaries had employed rich materials such as gold, enamel and gemstones, signifying the divine light and the heavenly realm to which a saint’s relics provided a link, many of the reliquaries produced by members of cloistered women’s religious orders in the post-Reformation era purposely used humble materials like paper, wax and thread. This was a conscious rejection of all excess – the only treasures worthy of the name were the relics themsleves.