rosary workshop - history
ENCOUNTERING the FILIGREE
In 1997 we visited Rothenberg (ob der Tauber) Germany. Tucked into a corner of the ancient walled city is the Reichsstadtmuseum.  Originally, it was built as a Dominican Nunnery Convent in 1258.  It  contains a wonderful selection of historical artifacts which includes religious objects.

ANTIQUE BAVARIAN -   ANTIQUE  CORAL
               In one display case there were three antique (strung) Rosaries. One had filigreed 'Pater Noster' beads with filigree boxes called 'reliquaries' (Relics of saints contained). hanging from the center of each decade (10 'Ave' beads) and had an image of a different person on each one. Even the enamel cross set into the filigreed cross appeared to have a box under it. The configuration of decades on each Rosary was: 1 with 4 - 1 with 6 - and - 1 with 7.

HISTORY OF FILIGREE
Read how filigree grew from 5000 BC to today. This hand crafted art form has quite a history.

n. Filigree filligree: From the Latin ‘Filum’ (Thread), and ‘Granum’ (Seed).  Fine, thread like wires of precious metals (gold and silver) are twisted and plaited (woven)  to create highly ornamental lacy designs. Points of contact are soldered together with like metals to secure designs. The ancient soldering was accomplished by using flame and a blowpipe. Borax was used with the solder to complete the process. Its most familiar use is in jewelry but is also used other art forms. This includes, sacred book covers, church appointments, beads and reliquary crosses for filigree rosaries.
 

 The identification card said:

==========================================================
"Drei Rosenkranze mit Anhangern aus Silberfiligran
(3 rosaries with silver filigree pendants)
+
Marke: Einhorn
(Designer: Einhorn)
Manufaktur: Schwabisch Gmund*
(Made in Schwabish Gmund (Germany)
Fruhes 19, Jahrhundert"
(1900 Year)

==========================================================

 These words and rosaries stayed in my mind all year. They were so different from anything I had ever seen before. They had to have a wonderful history.  I said a little prayer for more information. Next year we went back to Germany and my first stop in Rothenberg was the museum. This is where doors began to open.

~ ANTIQUE  BAVARIAN ~

BAVARIAN ROSARY FROM THE 1800s

We had driven past an antique shop on Herrngasse, near the Franciscan Church that seemed to specialize in furniture so it didn't look promising but something kept prodding me to walk the few blocks from the museum. He had 4 old Rosaries. Two were filigreed. He offered all four for 2000DM. Pictured here with clear red English cut 10 mm beads, it has five decades and was missing the large cross below the small middle one.
+
The other one (see below) was purchased on Rodergasse and has 6 decades of 7mm faceted coral beads - very unusual but I was to learn that Coral was a favored bead as it was belived to hold healing attributes! The blue enamel cross set into a larger silver filigreed cross was lovely. Both rosaries were dated by the dealers to be from the 1850s.
+
In Augsburg we found a small religious goods shop on a corner of the main street of Maximilianstrausse 50. Visiting with the lady there who spoke some English she shared some wonderful history on our search. We understood her to say the family had been making religious art since late 11th century. We asked her about the configuration of different sets of decades. She explained that 7 decades represented the 7 passions (?) of Christ. She said she felt the other Rosaries had just lost their beads other than the standard 5 count. She is also the one who identified the reliquaries as such. She said pilgrims collected the reliquaries from holy places, attaching them to their Rosaries to receive special blessings from the places they had visited.
+
Later the next day, We followed a lead to a shop down the stairs from Maximilianstrausse. I purchased a very interesting cross from 1880 and a Rosary that had beads set into the cross.  A shop across the way had several Rosaries in the window, one was a filigree but they were closed that day. It served it's purpose though, as it only made the hunt more interesting.
+
The rest of the trip produced the standard antique Rosaries, medals and crosses. Some of which are very interesting and will be a part of our collection for you. These were few and far between but worth the search.. Found one in Freiburg and another in Konstance (he said he had about 80 old rosaries at home but no filigree). Had there only been more time.

~ ANTIQUE  CORAL ~

RARE FACETED ANTIQUE CORAL FILIGREE

When we came back to DC, we roamed around Old Town Alexandria looking for more old religious objects and didn't find much. Heading back up to my daughters office, I bumped into a small sign that said 'Antiques.' 'It didn't look like a place to find Rosaries', I thought, but went in anyway. They brought out 3 of the most beautiful filigreed Rosaries I had seen yet. He dated them 1800-1840 and said they all came from one estate. They were made in Austria. He had papers on them and suspected they came from hierarchy in the Catholic Church. One, the smallest (with small red glass beads) was a favorite. It had a very, very old fragment of wood set with a bezel into the large silver filigreed cross. He teased me with: 'It could be a fragment of the true cross, you know'. I smiled and said, 'I wonder how large that cross was to accommodate all the fragments claimed in the world today'... but you had to look twice and think, 'what if it was...'
+
* While in New Mexico we did find out that the manufacturer of the museum Rosaries, Schwabisch Gmund, was the name of an area in lower Germany where precious metal jewelry was manufactured.
+
Looking back on the search, was delightfully amazed at how doors opened up along the way. How things got better after we found out that the German word for Rosaries is Rosenkranz. How we laughed at our feeble attempts to roll our tongue while trying to pronounce it! The people were patient with us, joining in on our German language lesson - and soon we learned the language became less and less of a barrier as we began to speak heart to heart.

 DO YOU HAVE INFORMATION ON OLD ROSARIES?
We continue to collect information on antique rosaries.  If you have information you believe would be of value to those interested, please email images, dates, origin and any history you may have on your rosary.

beadsong@hotmail.com

~ HISTORY of FILIGREE ~

n. Filigree filligree: From the Latin ‘Filum’ (Thread), and ‘Granum’ (Seed).  Fine, thread like wires of precious metals (gold and silver) are twisted and plaited (woven)  to create highly ornamental lacy designs. Points of contact are soldered together with like metals to secure designs. The ancient soldering was accomplished by using flame and a blowpipe. Borax was used with the solder to complete the process. Its most familiar use is in jewelry but is also used other art forms. This includes, sacred book covers, church appointments, beads and reliquary crosses for filigree rosaries.

PRE CHRISTIAN / ANCIENT ART FORM

This exquisite, lacy metal technique is traced back before 5000 years.   It is one of the oldest and most beautiful of art forms developed by man. It is totally hand crafted and requires hours of concentration.  The closely guarded craft was passed from generation to generation, family member to family member. It may also be traced from the 6th to 3rd Century BC to the Etruscans who were also known for their granular work.  Granular work, filigree and repoussé were known in the island of Crete by 2000BC.
+
INFLUENCE OF PHOENICIANS AND ETRUSCANS
The Phoenicians were know for trading gold and silver throughout the Mediterranean Sea and also traveled to India dating back as far as 1000 BC. They also spread their filigree techniques.  Many settled in southern Italy integrating with the Etruscans, a civilization of the 7th century B.C. dedicated to the arts. The Etruscan artists fused traditional geometric designs with the Phoenician's oriental influences of floral and figurative designs, refining Filigree to such an extraordinary degree that to this day their designs and techniques are still used by modern jewelers.
+
GREEK / ROMAN INFLUENCE
Greek Filigree began to influence designs from about 323 BC from Europe to India. Filigree earrings, tassels and flowers were very popular. When Alexander the Great brought his bounty of gold and silver in from the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Persians, filigree began to grow not only to set stones, but in other ornamental uses. By 133AD after Rome had taken over the Greek Empire, the Roman craftsmen combined precious stones with simpler settings and filigree again, went out of fashion.

POST CHRISTIAN ERA

BYZANTINE / CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE
During the 4th century invasion of the Goths, (Dark Ages) of the Roman Empire, filigree was lost and no longer passed down from generation to generation. But the Christian Byzantine Empire had become a ‘repository of classical learning, preserving the artistic heritage of the Greek and Roman artisans.’ Which meant that filigree was incorporated into monastic work such as covers to scripture and icons. These holy objects were often encrusted with precious stones, filigree, granulation and cloisonné (enamel work), all of which worked well together creating an elegant style.
+
CELTIC KNOTS
During the 10th to 12th century this metalwork found a new direction in the hands of the Irish. The Celtic knot work and weaving so typical of Irish designs seen in stone crosses and architecture were created in metal by using a continuous, unbroken metal thread that wove itself throughout the whole design.  This technique was created by the Celtics and reflected their traditional  knot-work designs beautifully
+
RENAISSANCE
The Italian Renaissance (rebirth) of the 15th - 16th c found craftsmen and artists bringing back the beauty of ancient Greece and Rome and not only did this speak through personal adornment but in the eventual use of filigree beads and crosses in rosaries. By the end of the 16th century, Venice saw a revival of fine gold filigree beads, and semi precious stones were more often seen with filigree caps. During the Spanish Inquisition the Jewish gold and silversmiths settled in North Africa and introduced filigree and cloisonné techniques to the craftsmen of the period.
+
Once filigree beads were discovered by rosary makers of that period, Paternoster guilds were formed in Schwabish Gmund (Bavaria) and Austria to fulfill the growing demands. (Families also began to make these rosaries, passing down their craft from one generation to the next.) Filigree beads and reliquary crosses with enamel work inserts grew in popularity, especially with the royalty and wealthy who began to wear them around their necks.
 +
By the Middle Ages, the Moors (Spain) had refined filigree.  From there it migrated to New Spain (Latin America), probably through the exploration of the new world where indigenous craftsmen duplicated the techniques. By the 18c, filigree styles not only reflected the Mayan, Aztec and Mixtec designs, it also kept the Spanish influence, creating a mix of ancient and contemporary that lives today.
+
INFLUENCES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution of the 17th to the 18th century brought mass production but this did not affect the making of filigree as it was a hand made art form and craft. But the period did introduce other less expensive metals and materials for adornment such as brass instead of gold to make reproduction jewelry more available to the public.
+
EDWARDIAN / ART NUEVO 19c INTO THE 20c
Faberge, a master jeweler of the 19th century revived the use of gold Filigree and during this period Filigree again became very popular during the Edwardian period (late 1800s). Clothing and jewelry moved into a beautiful new period called Art Nouveau. The fashionable passementerie (laces and trims) could now be copied in fine metal wires for jewelry. This ornamental work is also reflected in the work of Tiffany.  By now, filigree rosaries have a history of several hundred years. Filigree rosaries in the traditional style still flourished through most of the 20th c but are rare and hard to find today. On a recent (2007) visit to Oberammergau (Bavaria) we saw beautifully reproduced new ones that ran about $350 Euros. When asked about them, (as was told they were not being made any more by our Augsburg contact) we were told they are still being made in the Bavarian Forest of Germany.  Regardless of availability, they are now a part of a glorious history.
 

return to antique rosary museum index