Help identifying this antique reliquary seal please.

As far as I can make out the writing on the bottom reads "Indutus ????? Charita".

 

Nice reliquary, but there is too much glare on the seal. Try photographing it without a flash and without light shining directly on it.

 

Hopefully, you can provide a better-focussed photo of the seal. Being able to read the motto will really help, as well as making out what's depicted on the shield.

Likely Bishop Somebody, due to the galero (hat) and twelve tassels.
It was in 1832 that the number of tassels was fixed at 30 (15 each side of the shield) for cardinals. A system for distinguishing ranks of of other clergy, including number of tassels, didn't start until 1905.

 

The front seems to be in French. If it were found here my first thought would be Montreal. The wax looks like it's probably in Latin.

 

bluumz-really steppin' it up !

 

Thanks all. I'll try and get a better photo tomorrow but even with a magnifying glass in daylight it's hard to read. It's a French piece but I think the writing is Latin.

 

I'm getting an 1800's Vatican vibe from those tassels ......

 

That was my first search but Papal seals have crossed keys.

 

I've taken some more pics, I hope they're clearer.

 

The coat of arms would be that of the bishop. There have been so many, you'd need a historian specialised in French church history to find this particular one.

I can't get more from the motto than "indutus (something) charitate". Indutus charitate without the missing word means "dressed in charity".

Tweaked and cropped the photo:

 

Trawling the Internet this afternoon I found a guy called Kevin who has a page on religious heraldry. I mailed him and within 3 hours he mailed back with this....

1. The motto scroll has three words: “Indutus Loricam Charitatis,” or “Put On the Breastplate of Charity.” (“Loricam” is barely visible but it's there.)
2. This was the episcopal motto of René François Renou — https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_François_Renou
3. As confirmation, here's his coat of arms — https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/René_François_Renou
4. The six tassels on each side indicate that he was still bishop of Amien (1893-1896) when this seal was made. He later became archbishop of Tours, but evidently it hadn't happened yet, because archbishops have 10 tassels on each side.
5. Going clockwise, the six relics are a piece from the Veil of the Virgin Mary in Chartres; St. Agnes; St. Colette; St. Christine; St. Mathilde; and St. Claire.

 

Wonderful information, and so fast!

That was the word we were looking for.