Rosary
1865-1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
After the prolonged and destructive Thirty Years War of 1618–48, Europe split into a Catholic south and a Protestant north. The rosary, used to help make sure that prayers were said correctly, was banished from Protestant countries. In the Catholic south it was used everywhere. The basic form, of small beads interspersed at regular intervals by larger beads, was the same everywhere, but the details varied according to local tradition.
The flat filigree rosettes on either side of the large paternoster beads on this rosary are typically Spanish, as is the crowned motif which marks the position where the user started and ended each round of prayers, sometimes called a ‘Maria’ in Spain. The pendent filigree crucifix, with circular cross-section, is also a characteristic Spanish design, although originally it would have hung from three paternoster beads.
It was bought for the museum by Senor Atienza for eight shillings in Murcia in 1870.
The flat filigree rosettes on either side of the large paternoster beads on this rosary are typically Spanish, as is the crowned motif which marks the position where the user started and ended each round of prayers, sometimes called a ‘Maria’ in Spain. The pendent filigree crucifix, with circular cross-section, is also a characteristic Spanish design, although originally it would have hung from three paternoster beads.
It was bought for the museum by Senor Atienza for eight shillings in Murcia in 1870.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver-gilt filigree and opaque white glass beads |
| Brief description | Rosary of silver-gilt filigree and white glass beads, Murcia (Spain) 1865-1870. |
| Physical description | Rosary of opaque white glass beads, with paternosters of the same beads with silver-gilt wire caps, each paternoster separated from the other beads by a pair of flat rosettes of silver-gilt filigree. At the centre is a filigree motif with a crown above, from which hangs a paternoster bead and a hollow filigree cross of circular section. The Christ figure on the cross is made from stamped silver-gilt sheet. Four of the original decades remain intact, but the fifth has an additional paternoster inserted, probably removed from the pendant, and there is also an additional paternoster bead inserted just above the central motif. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Illegible mark, possibly the lower half of a lion rampant in a circular frame. (On suspension ring of crucifix.)
|
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | After the prolonged and destructive Thirty Years War of 1618–48, Europe split into a Catholic south and a Protestant north. The rosary, used to help make sure that prayers were said correctly, was banished from Protestant countries. In the Catholic south it was used everywhere. The basic form, of small beads interspersed at regular intervals by larger beads, was the same everywhere, but the details varied according to local tradition. The flat filigree rosettes on either side of the large paternoster beads on this rosary are typically Spanish, as is the crowned motif which marks the position where the user started and ended each round of prayers, sometimes called a ‘Maria’ in Spain. The pendent filigree crucifix, with circular cross-section, is also a characteristic Spanish design, although originally it would have hung from three paternoster beads. It was bought for the museum by Senor Atienza for eight shillings in Murcia in 1870. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 730-1870 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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