dtgreene: FF4: Use as an item to slightly heal the party. Note that ... items can't be used without equipping them in FF4.
joppo: Similar to this, in Bravely Default there are Equips that allow you to cast some spell if you use it as an item. They must be equipped by one of the characters, of course. (For example during a bit I used to don a bow that allows the character to cast Haste)
So, it happens that there is a fairly decent
shield with the Cura spell. (I think it is Cura, might be a variation)
I always felt it was a pity that my favored strategies didn't happen to include any of the classes that favor shields, and that they usually called for at least one member to dual equip a high MATK+MDEF job and White Mage (or even Red Mage), making the shield less relevant by comparison.
Speaking of shields with healing magic, there are other examples:
* In Dragon Quest 2, there's the Shield of Strength, which casts Healmore (Midheal in later translations) on the user (only) for free, which is incredibly handy (to the point where it's even worth getting one for the princess, even though she can't equip it). This item would appear in every later game in the series I've played, though it tends to be less useful due to other free healing options (sage's stone, staff of healing, hustle dance) being available.
* In Wizardry 2 (Knight of Diamonds), KOD's Shield casts a healing spell, usable both in and out of battle, with no break chance.
* Similarly, Phantasy Star 3's Force Shield will restore 50 HP for free both in and out of battle. Then again, there's the Force Claw, a weapon that casts Rever for free when used; powerful healing, but unreliable and only works on dead targets (though you can use the Royal Vest to get a dead character to use it on, as it casts NASAK with 100% success rate).
* Life Corsage in Paladin's Quest. Don't know whether it counts as a weapon or a shield (it's held in the hand), but it fully heals the user. In Lennus 2, this item's effect has changed; it restores 300 HP to the entire party, and even revives dead characters. (Note that characters end up with a few thousand HP by end game in Lennus 2.)