What Are These Rosary Beads Made Of

[frogpatch]

These beads belong to my wife. I do not know where she got them. There are no Roman Catholics in her family. The medal depicts Pope Leo XIII whose Papacy lasted from 1878 until 1903. That would probably be when someone brought them from Rome. The beads have a feel like plastic but they are one color on the surface and a lighter color beneath. The colors in the picture are pretty real. At first I thought they may have been cinnabar of some other lacquer but I always though cinnabar was the same color all through. You can see that they are not molded. The rings are different from one to the next. I also don't think plastic was a material used for religious items at the turn of the century. I am stumped. Can someone shed some light on this. Not my area of expertise at all. The metal is brass and there is a full set of beads they are just not in the picture. 

[icedgold10]

What do they feel like?  Stone, wood  I have seen something like that recently in my researching.  I'll look to see if I can find it again.  Do they feel like bone?

[mart]

They used to dye ivory and bone for carving like that !!

[frogpatch]

Please read more carefully. "The beads have a feel like plastic..." They are apparently a soft material. Definitely not bone or ivory. 

[mart]

Didn`t say yours were either one !!~ Just made a statement while thinking !!  I did read carefully !!

[Rauville]

I believe that vegetable ivory was used quite often for beads.

[frogpatch]

Mart, I was replying to another post that asked "what do they feel like? Stone Wood? Just saying again they feel like plastic.
What is vegetable Ivory. My wife has another one where the beads are made of tightly wound colored paper shreds as fine as thread. I can only see it though a 16x loop.

[icedgold10]

They may be  bois durci, an early man made substance made of rosewood sawdust and blood and quite popular during the 19th century.

[Rauville]

Vegetable Ivory?

http://ezinearticles.com/?Tagua---The-Elephant-Plant&id=3342368

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Carved-Tagua-Nut-aka-Vegetable-Ivory-Necklace-/291125399915?pt=Vintage_Costume_Jewelry&hash=item43c86d116b&nma=true&si=ThaEooVkTqzUTxhkOz4J%252FlksweM%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[mart]

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/Classroom_Activity_Teacher_MilkPlastic.shtml

Evidently this is a early form of plastic !! But it is simple enough that anyone can make it !! Was used quite a bit for buttons and I have seen buttons carved like your rosary !!  The little tiny ones used on ladies clothing from early 1900`s !! This was used back then !! Read below the diagram !!

[frogpatch]

I think you are right Mart. It just feels like plastic.
I just realized I have a piece of vegetable ivory from Ecuador or somewhere in that region. I completely forgot about it. These beads are more like plastic. It think they are carved early plastic like you said Mart.

[mart]

I sometimes run out of buttermilk and vinegar +milk will make an acceptable substitute !! Didn`t know that it also made plastic !!

[frogpatch]

You country folk kill me. Is buttermilk really a staple that you run out of? I buy it special when I make fried chicken. I do love drinking what is left over or making pancakes.

[Rauville]

You country folk kill me. Is buttermilk really a staple that you run out of? I buy it special when I make fried chicken. I do love drinking what is left over or making pancakes.

My ol' Irish Great Grandmother always thought a Soda Farl was a treat. Nothing but flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk mixed up.

[sugarcube5419]

rauville I had to look that up--when I saw the pictures it looks like the treat my grandma made us when she baked bread??  She'd fry it up and put butter and brown sugar and even now it makes my mouth water to think of it