Specializing in Wire-wrapped Gemstone Rosaries
The History of Wire-wrapped Rosaries and why I make them..
As long as wire has been drawn, jewelry has been wire-wrapped. Rosaries have been wire-wrapped for several centuries, dating back as far as the early 16th century and possibly earlier. As a collector of antique Rosaries, I own many wire-wrapped Rosaries, one even dating back to the late 18th century. It thrills me to know that my Rosaries will have the opportunity to be around and cared for for hundreds of years to come, and I continue to study these heirlooms and learn from these past artists creativity.
One particular style that I am enthralled with is the cage wrapped Rosaries. I own two of these that are from the 1920s and they are so unique and beautiful. I studied these Rosaries for a long time before venturing to make my own which can be viewed with two versions that I make. The single cage wrapped style as seen on this Mohave Turquoise Rosary, or the double cage wrapped as seen on this Rose Quartz Bouquet Style Rosary. These take anywhere from 2x to 4x longer to complete than my normal wire-wrapped Rosaries.
I am also excited to know that I may be making history as well with my own creative designs, such as the Bouquet Style Wire-wrapped Rosary. A creation I endeavored with over 2 years ago when my husband asked if I could try making Rosaries shorter. It started out more as a joke, but when I was finished, it was truly beautiful and unique.
To learn more about the history of wired jewelry and wire-wrapped Rosaries I have taken this excerpt and encourage you to read and learn more about how long this art has truly been around. It tells you how long YOUR Rosary will be around!
A Brief History of Wire in Jewelry (taken from A History of Jewelry by Joan A. Evans)
Formed wire has been used in jewelry almost as long as humans have had the ability to work metal. It has been used both to join elements together, and for surface decorations as filigree and as trenches for enamel. Ancient Greeks and Minoans would make wire by rolling sheet metal between two hard surfaces. Later, the Romans and Vikings would use drawplates to reduce thickness and stretch wire.
A gold girdle torc made of a spirally twisted wire dating to 1200 BC was found in 1692 in Wales. Posamentarie style jewelry, using wire spirals as design elements, date from the 11th Century BC. W-shaped earrings dated from 800 BC used wire as the finding passing through the ear lobe. Saxons used wire, plaiting and twisting it into finger rings torcs, and brooches.
In the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, wire became an element as a linking device such as jump rings, chains, and sometimes beaded chains, the most common of which was the rosary. Though beads were most often strung on cords, beads that were incorporated as dangles on larger pendants or brooches were strung on wire.