Crossroads

The Malcove pyx is produced by several different sources. The champlevé enamelling technique originated with the Celts in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and continued to be used throughout the Roman period. Examples of this enamelling exist even at Sutton Hoo. Eventually, the style was mostly practices in Limoges and Mosan (Victoria and Albert Museum). Champlevé and pyxes existed as the product of cultural exchange and transference, with Celtic enamelling applied to Roman Catholic altar pieces produced in France from materials sourced all over Europe. The transference of ideas and traded materials facilitated the creation of this pyx, which at once seems entirely French, but which is in fact the product of a staggering cross-section knowledge from different cultures throughout time. 

We've seen, however that it isn't just the Malcove pyx, or enamelled Limoges pyxes, that can exist as the product of cultural merging. Virtually every non-Western produced pyx, such as the Nanban pyx, will have adopted some of the conventional imagery of the pyx and mixed it with more culturally typical artistic styles and narratives. This made the pyx look sacred to the eyes of different cultures, who often had different aesthetic tastes.