Anne
They are not spindle whorls, which are also not the same as Lace bobbin beads, (Spangles), either.

your example shows a nice piece of lace trimmed with smaller old large-holed glass beads to weigh down a cover to keep flies out of the milk or cream jug.
my examples are"Maiolica"-glazed pottery beads whose decoration is added in or below the final layers of glaze- a technique for many kinds of pottery specially developed in Italy in the towns of Gubbio and Deruta. there's probably some more to be found online -hopefully not misleading information ...
the oldest may be 17th or 18th century and some may have been made late 19th-early 20th C.
they are rather rare, collectable and valuable because they are individually painted/glazed as well as displaying wise mottos in Latin!