Wire-Wrapping: Re-Purposing an Ancient Skill
Wire-Wrapping: Re-Purposing an Ancient Skill
Gayle Robertson-Murphy was the first rosary artisan known to re-purpose the ancient skill of wire-wrapping and apply it to gemstone rosaries with prominent Our Father beads.
Re-Purposing an Ancient Skill
The Basics of Wire-Wrapping
Most people are familiar with rosaries having a simple loop link created with a single wire turn. Compared to these rosaries, a wire-wrapped rosary takes more than twice the wire and the time to make. As shown in the photo (by OLOG Rosaries), wire is wrapped around the core strand that passes through the beads. As a result, the beads are secure without soldering or casting. Wire wrapping also adds more finger space between the beads. They add heirloom quality to any rosary.
Before Wire-Wrapped Rosaries
There was an inherent weakness in classic rosaries. For centuries, rosary connections have been unreliable. Only the ones made with sturdy wire in a rounded shape would stand the test of time.
The majority of rosary links stretched and came unhooked with use as shown in the photo.
In the past, people sewed broken rosaries back together. I remember one of my grandmother’s rosaries very well. It had some dark brown thread in the place of the broken wire connections.
An Ancient Skill
Archeological evidence of wire wrapping is as early as ancient Egyptian times. Tombs of ancient Pharaohs contain items with wire-wrapped detailing.
Wire-Wrapped Rosaries
In recent years, artisans have re-purposed this ancient skill to make rosaries. A pioneer of this idea was Gayle Robertson-Murphy (1959-2016). She began making wire-wrapped rosaries in Hopedale, Massachusetts, in the 1990s. She got the idea from her grandmother’s wire-wrapped Waterford Crystal rosary. The original artisan of that crystal rosary is unknown (and there may have been others). Gayle launched a unique line of rosaries from the idea of wire-wrapping a rosary. In 2000, she gave the rosary in the photo to her daughter for her First Communion.
Unique Rosaries
Gayle created wire-wrapped rosaries with gemstones and prominent Our Father beads. These innovative rosaries (as shown in the photo) were the first of their kind. One of her creative ideas was to have matching Our Father beads. She partnered with a glass artisan to design floral accent lampworked beads.
Queen of Peace Rosaries Website
Gayle launched the Queen of Peace Rosaries website in August 1999. (At that point, it was 16 years since the inception of the internet.) She sold a variety of heirloom quality gemstone rosaries. The photo features her original bronze and rutilated quartz rosary.
In the early years of Our Lady of Grace Rosaries, we found inspiration from this talented artisan. She combined colour and design to create such beautiful, sturdy rosaries. Her wire-wrapped gemstone rosaries still inspire countless rosary makers today.
Continuing in Her Mother's Footsteps
Marian Eno has continued her mother’s artistry. She established her own online business in March 2018.
My mother’s faith and her love for the rosary inspired me to continue this legacy of sharing the rosary with people around the world.
Simple Rosaries features Marian’s new rosary designs. Click to visit her website.
Click to Share This Post
CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
We posted original Gayle Robertson-Murphy rosaries and one by her daughter (Marian Eno). Marian Eno, the owner and artisan of Simple Rosaries, gave us her express permission.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet resources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
The earliest archeological evidence of wire wrapping is at least as early as ancient Egyptian times. Tombs of ancient Pharaohs contain items with wire-wrapped detailing. In recent years, artisans have re-purposed this ancient skill to make rosaries.
Classic Rosaries have a simple loop link created with a single wire turn.
Wire-wrapped Rosaries are more complex. Wire is wrapped around the core strand that passes through the beads.
As a result:
- The beads are secure without soldering or casting.
- It adds more finger space between the beads.
- They add heirloom quality to any rosary
Gayle Robertson-Murphy (1959-2016) began making wire-wrapped rosaries in Hopedale, Massachusetts, in the 1990s. She got the idea from her grandmother’s wire-wrapped Waterford Crystal rosary. Gayle was the first to create them with gemstones and prominent Our Father beads. She sold them worldwide through her website, Queen of Peace Rosaries.
Her daughter, Marian Eno, continues her mother’s legacy. She sells her wire-wrapped gemstone rosaries at Simple Rosaries.