Reliquary with the Tooth of Saint John the Baptist

The Reliquary with the Tooth of Saint John the Baptist is a piece from the Guelph Treasure that is owned and displayed[1] by the Art Institute of Chicago.

A relic is a part of a person, object, or natural material that is considered sacred or religiously significant.

In Medieval Europe, reliquary objects were believed to have various powers of blessing and protection, depending on their contents.

The first child of the Guelph/Brunon union was Henry the Lion,[4] who added a number of pieces to the Guelph Treasure.

It is claimed that the tooth was given to Gilduin of Le Puiset by Hugh, the Archbishop of Edessa, in 1120 for transfer to the Cluny abbey.

The Reliquary with the Tooth of Saint John the Baptist was purchased by Julius Falk Goldschmidt.

[3] Duke August and these dealers loaned the objects to a series of museums around the United States for a traveling exhibition of the Guelph Treasure.

Mrs. Marion Chauncey McCormick - late widow of Chauncey McCormick (a trustee at the Art Institute of Chicago) and daughter of Charles Deerling (a benefactor of the Art Institute of Chicago) - purchased the Reliquary from Falk Goldschmidt in 1931 for $10,000.

[3] Marion Chauncey McCormick also donated a number of her father's holdings to the Art Institute of Chicago.