The casket which originally contained the relics of St. Maurice measures 12.5 by 19 by 6.5 centimetres (5 by 7.25 by 2.5 inches). It is made of silver covered with gold plates with thin gold strips that form a cell pattern, using the cloisonné technique. On the three sides and the lid, the cells are filled with garnets, and blue and green glass, and occasionally also with white and green enamel and pearls, which form a symmetrical design. Set within are large cabochons cut from red glass, garnet, quartz, sapphire, and some re-used engraved gems (intaglios) of chalcedony, carnelian, and onyx, predominantly of Roman origin. In the centre of the frontal side, there is a large pseudo-cameo, made of two layers of glass (not one piece of stone, hence "pseudo"). The cameo, probably depicting St. Maurice, is the only piece that was carved roughly in the same period as the casket was fabricated, in the first half of the seventh century. This dating is supported by the techniques used by the Undiho and Ello, and by the type of letters used in the inscription. The text, with each letter filling one of the squares of the golden grid, covers the whole of the back side of the casket.

 

The reliquary is still on display in the treasury of St. Maurice monastery in Agaune (present-day Saint-Maurice, Switzerland). A detailed discussion of the casket can be found in the catalogue of the 2014 Louvre exhibition of the monastery`s treasures (Antoine-König 2014).