NAVIGATION

A German Memento Mori Carved Ivory Paternoster Rosary Bead in the Form of a Skull
Old smooth silky patina
17th Century

Size: 3cm high, 3cm wide, 3.5cm deep - 1¼ ins high, 1¼ ins wide, 1½ ins deep

Made for devotional use the function of these beads was to mark the beginning and end of a prayer cycle. Reminding the believer of his mortality, the paternoster or terminal bead on a rosary represents an act of inner contemplation. It is also evidence of the anonymity of death and perhaps of truths beyond the transient details of life.

 

Ex Private collection of the Berkeley Family, Spetchley Park Worcestershire