Paternosters: loop prayer beads w/ gauds
Here are two paternosters (aka historical rosaries or prayer beads) I’ve made for use at Renaissance faire:
One is bone with coral marker beads decorated with gold and a terracotta tassel.
The other is coral with pearl makers beads and a black tassel.
*The two different batches of coral & the pearls were purchased in Maui, Hawai’i. I have doubts about the authenticity of the coral but I don’t know much about buying coral. The bone was purchased in northern california along with the gold colored bead ends.
In future I think I need to make the tassels thicker and squatter from what I can see in some historical examples. I would also like to do these with silk string and tassels instead of the cotton seen here. I do not have historical references for the combination of beading for the “aves” beads and the “gauds” (marker beads) but bone, coral, and pearls were used.
If interested you can learn more about paternosters at: Paternoster-Row or check out the blog. Sifting through the site I can tell I’ve got a lot to learn but it was fun putting these together.
As someone who researches them (and has learned a lot from Paternoster Row), I think they look very good.