Since the very early stages of Christianity, Seraphim angel figurines, and angel or religious figurines in general, have been extremely popular. Their uses and purposes have widely varied, from trinkets and small decorative items, church decorations, grave or headstone adornments, to acting as good luck charms for whoever possesses them. Due to their huge popularity in the contemporary sense, many people consider them to be a somewhat new relic, but this is not the case at all. Some of the first examples of Seraphim angel figurines appeared in the 4th and 5th centuries across much of Europe, and especially within Byzantium. Due to the Seraphim being so close to God himself, many of the early Christians considered them to be a symbol of spiritual purity or spiritual cleanliness. These first figurines that people would keep weren't made of glass or porcelain like so many of them are today, but instead they were made of hardwood mostly.
Outside of the common wood figurines of the early Christian era, Seraphim angel figurines have also been known to be carved in precious stone, or even marble. On a rare occasion, these figurines would even be cast in pure gold or silver, and then usually mounted on a brooch or medallion. One such example of them being cast in gold and mounted, is in the medallion and sash worn by the Swedish Knights of the Royal Order of the Seraphim. In this specific figurine example, the Seraphim angels are represented in the classical depiction of them with an angel head and six wings, a characteristic of the Seraphim that is rooted in the Renaissance. Other examples of earlier period Seraphim figurines, would be the various wood carving representations set in the traditional Christian Nativity scene, which usually has the Seraphim looking down on the baby Jesus, only this time in a more human like form, as similarly described in many ancient Jewish literary works.
There are some puritan or conservative Christians that consider Seraphim angel figurines, or any religious figurines at all, to be a sin. Some feel that they are a form of idolatry, and can lead people to praying to or worshipping false gods, a sin that is strictly forbidden according to the laws of Moses. In the Ten Commandments it clearly states that you shall not make anything that could be construed as an idol, and specifically that you should not attempt to replicate anything from heaven or above, which is clearly in reference to angels. The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church has an extremely liberal attitude towards Biblical figures being made in the form of art, and this was a large part of the reason why many denominations split from them, and started their very own Christian churches. You'll notice that in many of the non denominational Christianity churches, the idea of religious figurines or artwork is frowned upon, or even forbidden.
One of the problems with artistic representation of anything religious, whether it be Seraphim angel figurines, figurines of Saints, or figurines of Jesus Christ himself, is that over time they do skew people away from scriptural reality. What tends to happen is that these angels or Biblical figures start to develop a mythological like stature, and begin to evolve into something that they never were in the Bible themselves, such as the Seraphim for example. The actual scripture that describes the Seraphim is indeed quite small when you add it all up, yet the Seraphim do have an epic status that has mostly been cultivated through artistic representations over the years. I don't personally take offense to these artistic representations, as artwork is probably one of my biggest passions, however I can see the side of it all that raises some concern from a faith based vantage point. That concludes this brief article, we hope that you enjoyed reading through it.
