Tesbih

Tesbih

A devotional piece of jewellery worn in many nations.
Kaleche design house brings you a stunning collection of contemporary jewellery with echoes of the tesbih and devotional necklaces.
Using a collection of beads sourced from around the world To create powerful adornments for everyday wear. Bringing a sense of age old energy and the potential for peaceful living and positivity.
Each piece is unique and features beautiful beads, each of which is a small work of art and slice of world history.
Let us take you on a journey via a necklace and explore the origins of the elements.

The piece pictured begins with a silk tassel which is the decorative finial of a set of prayer beads which would have adorned the hands of a Mauritanian Guedra dancer, next we see the elongated Imam bead, the place where devotion begins and ends in a cycle. A large and impressive antique Hebron glass bead begins the loop of beautiful elements, this coarse glass bead was made using salt from the Dead Sea, and is over 100 years old. Moving along the cord we next encounter some small wooden beads produced in the hippie era in Germany, and worn during the long heady summer of love around the world and of course by those beatniks searching for Sufi enlightenment here in Morocco. When the magic bus left Marrakech many of the love beads remained, and can be found nestled in corners of shops in Marrakech today on occasion by those with a keen eye! Next we find the fine artisan detail of Mauritanian prayer beads; made from Bakelite in the 1940’s and then given the special details applied in silver wire to the surface in a manner particular to Mauritania. Beside the gather of Mauritanian beads is a single plastic copy of a dot work Yemeni coral prayer bead, these were produced to imitate their rarer counterparts from the 1970’s onwards. The huge white bead which is next in our stringing is a Dutch white glass bead from 17th century, this type of bead was prized by the Yoruba people and associated to the moon and fertility. The smaller white bead with coloured decoration which is beside the moon bead is from India it features slices of mosaic like glass decor called murrines which are replicating the earlier roan and Venetian bead making techniques. A row of seven pale blue/grey beads representing a week of a life are tiny examples of prosser beads which were made from a mixture of porcelain and glass by the Batterposses factory in France.
At this lightbulb moment we will begin a new paragraph! The black and white bulb shaped glass bead was made in Jablonec in the Czech Republic. This style was traded to Mali in great quantity, where it was the main element of traditional wedding necklaces. From further afield we next see a row of neat faceted matt blue glass beads. This is a style which was intended to trade with fur trappers in North America rather than within Africa, named Russian blues, these early examples show great patina and wear. The next ovoid silver bead is a Tuareg creation made by a Kel Inaden
Who is the chosen male silversmith of a matriarchal society. Another series of seven bead represent another week in measured time and are once again the love beads of the Marrakech hippie communes of the 1960’s , again a Yoruba bead makes a welcome appearance followed by alternating black glass and corner less cube beads from a 18th century Yemeni necklace. The sweet antique Khamsa pendant is from Libya and would be a strong form of protection for the wearer of this necklace. A week is again represented in 1970’s plastic white prayer beads and a spindle whorl from Mali is included next, believed to be a safe place to tell your worries and keep them safely from harming you. The next week is represented again by the power of lovelies German wooden beads. A single French jet bead circa 1950 precedes a final set of seven beads which are made from recycled Ghanaian glass bottles. The work is particular to Kroboland. The blue and gold leaf glass bead was created by UK glass artist Charlotte Norris. In quick succession we see three small Prosser beads, a yak bone bead from Jaipur in India, a 1880’s Venetian glass tire bead, a faceted French glass bead and once more some intricate Mauritanian prayer beads ..
A simple strand of beads are in fact when viewed in a cultural and historical context a journey around much of the world!

Tesbih