Greek, Marathon
Pair of Rosaries, 19th century
Shell, 55 cm (21 5/8 in.)
These two rosaries are very similar and are made of strings of small, cone-shaped shells joined by small metal links with four red and four blue beads interspersed between shells around the rosary. Each rosary is circular-shaped and at the bottom, a single strand of five shells terminates in three appendages of two shells each. These three appendages have red beads where they are joined to the single strand, blue beads between the two shells in each appendage and a red bead at the bottom. The first rosary has mostly off-white shells tinged with brown. The second rosary is made of slightly darker, off-white shells.
Macknight Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.