The household shrine is an in-the-wall niche to display a personal treasure -- maybe great-granddad's sterling silver baby cup, or the last of grandma's set of six antique Murano wine glasses.  Smaller items can be placed on a riser block to center them visually in the available space.  The shrine at left is in cherry wood.

I have two shrines in a narrow stairway that presently hold carvings of my kids.  Because they are tucked in the wall they're less likely to get knocked down, (like when the cat jumps up on the hall table).

I make the shrines in my one-man cabinet shop.  They are constructed of various solid and laminated woods and have a clear satin finish.  So far, I've made them in cherry, mahogany, walnut, and tiger maple.  It is a very labor intensive process involving many tools and jigs and I get to use very nice pieces of wood that would otherwise be unusable in a larger project.