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Bag

1630-1650 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Many decorative early 17th century bags survive, but it is not entirely certain how they were used and worn. They are too delicate and elaborate to serve as receptacles for money carried on one’s person on a daily basis. Few commercial exchanges in the early 17th century required cash, and most household shopping was done by servants. However, they were used as a form of gift-wrapping for the presents of coin that were offered as a New Year’s gifts to the monarch.

These embroidered bags may also be the ‘sweet bags’ frequently listed in inventories and offered as gifts. These held perfumed powder or dried flowers and herbs, and were perhaps applied to the nose like a pomander when necessary.

The rather simplified pattern of flowers worked in heavy silver and silver-gilt threads and dense texture of the embroidery is characteristic of the period 1630 to 1650.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Linen, silk, silver-gilt thread, silk thread; hand sewn, hand embroidered
Brief description
Bag of embroidered canvas, 1630-1650, British; raised silver gilt thread, green silk trim
Physical description
A square, flat bag of linen embroidered with silver-gilt thread and green silk thread in gobelin, chain, stem, lattice and interlaced ladder stitches in pattern of flowers with raised petals in detached buttonhole stitch. It was once lined with coral-pink silk and has green silk and silver-gilt drawstring, finials, loops and tassels.
Dimensions
  • Approx., bag only length: 10.9cm
  • Approx., bag only width: 10.3cm
Gallery label
Bag. English; first half 17th century. Linen canvas embroidered with silver-gilt thread and silk in Gobelin, chain, stem, detached buttonhole, lattice and interlaced ladder stitches.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Many decorative early 17th century bags survive, but it is not entirely certain how they were used and worn. They are too delicate and elaborate to serve as receptacles for money carried on one’s person on a daily basis. Few commercial exchanges in the early 17th century required cash, and most household shopping was done by servants. However, they were used as a form of gift-wrapping for the presents of coin that were offered as a New Year’s gifts to the monarch.

These embroidered bags may also be the ‘sweet bags’ frequently listed in inventories and offered as gifts. These held perfumed powder or dried flowers and herbs, and were perhaps applied to the nose like a pomander when necessary.

The rather simplified pattern of flowers worked in heavy silver and silver-gilt threads and dense texture of the embroidery is characteristic of the period 1630 to 1650.
Bibliographic reference
John Lea Nevinson, Catalogue of English Domestic Embroidery of the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, London: HMSO, 1938, p.99, plate LXIX
Collection
Accession number
658-1904

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Record createdJuly 9, 2008
Record URL
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