Conclusion

Sacred objects are treated with importance and care throughout many cultures- this is exemplified with the care put into the creation of pyxes in 13th century France as much as it is today. The pyx is an important Roman Catholic symbol, a crucial component of one of the most important rites in Catholicism, and it is intended for transportation, causing the pyx to exist in many cultures and in many forms. While some aspects of the pyx, like its closed box form, essential for the preservation of the host, remain unchanging, other aspects of the pyx, such as shape, material, and artistic style, can and have changed depending on the context it was created in. The idea of the pyx, its function as a container for the host, remains unchanged even as nearly every other aspect of it has been subject to change. This makes artifacts like the Malcove pyx appear even more remarkable, when put in the context of a greater group of pyxes throughout different cultures and time periods, somehow all recognizable as products of the same beliefs. 

Although on its own the Malcove pyx seems remarkable, carefully crafted and beautifully made, and becomes more so with an understand of the country and century that created it, it is best understood as one remarkable artifact in a widespread and magnificently cross-cultural tradition.