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While I list really nice komboloi at good prices here on , it only looks like the lower quality junk that other sellers offer seem to be selling. The tourist shop (Chinese) 1€ komboloi sells for $20 more often than the genuine traditional komboloi. I offer my komboloi but I don\'t have a need to sell them. Komboloi that I have sold in the past are in museums as display items. This komboloi is a 1 of 1 handmade piece of art and YOU have a chance of owning it here and now.
It has carved bone beads and vintage Murano glass. Each wooden bead measures around ⅝\", 15mm to 16mm and they appear to be machine turned with hand applied varnish or shellac.
Vintage antique Traditional Greek Komboloi worry prayer beads.
This komboloi dates to between 1948 to 1984, post WWII & Greek Civil War until the passing of the artist in 1984.
Main prayer-player beads material: wood
Prayer-player bead count: 21
String/cord color: black
String strands: 2
Coupler bead: wood, bone
Dangle drop bead/charm: Murano glass and carved bone fish design.
Tassel color:
Tassel crown:
Length top to bottom: approximately 15\"
Weight: light
In the summer of 2023 I spent a few days in Piraeus outside of Athens in Greece waiting for a ferry to the islands and while there I went antique shopping. One small antique shop had a begleri and komboloi hanging high up on a wall and I asked about them. The shop owner said his grandfather made them many years ago and as long as he remembered those had been hanging there untouched, but, he had a box of them in a side room. The box had many handmade komboloi strung up virtually untouched since his father moved them to this room after the grandfather\'s death in 1984. The grandfather was born in 1915/16, a true artist though I did not write his name down to remember it.
They had a WWII US Army helmet, vintage estate smoking pipes and a lot of other things that I compiled and negotiated a generous offer to buy.
Komboloi is usually made of amber or different forms of plastic, but these are wooden beads.
These are not new, they are at least 40 years old, likely 50 to 60 years old.
Check out all the pictures for a better understanding of the condition.
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