Spanish Votive Ivory and Silver Rosary Mounted with a Toledo Worked Steel Pendant Cross

Period: 1600-1700

Origin: Spain

Medium: Ivory, silver, gilt steel

Literature: The word ‘bead’ is derived from the Anglo Saxon ‘bidden’: to pray, and ‘bede’: prayer. Prayer beads are most commonly associated with the Middle Ages and the Roman Catholic Church, but their use is universal and pre-dates the Christian era. Christianity was in fact the last of the major religions to employ prayer beads in an important ritualistic role. Even today the religions of nearly two-thirds of the world’s population utilise some form of prayer beads.