Purse
1634 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The most luxurious embroidered purses, made in leather, velvet and silk, were used by both men and women. Women's purses were similar to those carried by men, but smaller, taking the form of tasselled bags that closed with tasselled drawstrings. These were often embroidered, while beadwork on leather was also popular. The decoration on this purse depicts a sprig of green and yellow acorns between a pair of birds with lozenges and flowers. It is inscribed 'I PRAY GOD TO B(sic) MY GUIDE 1634'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Leather, embroidered with glass beads, with knotted thread drawstrings |
| Brief description | glass beads, 1634, English; Inscribed "I pray God to b my guide 1634" |
| Physical description | Drawstring leather purse embroidered with glass beads. A sprig of green and yellow acorns appears between a pair of birds with lozenges and flowers, inscribed 'I PRAY TO GOD TO B(sic) MY GUIDE 1634'. |
| Gallery label | A number of early 17th-century beaded bags bear mottos or expressions relating to charity, friendship or luck. These two examples carry the messages, 'I pray God to B my guide 1634' [T.55-1927] and 'Hit or miss there it is 1628' [T.250-1960]. They would have been used to carry either sweet-smelling herbs or small gifts.
V&A, Room 40, Bags: Inside Out. (12/2020) |
| Summary | The most luxurious embroidered purses, made in leather, velvet and silk, were used by both men and women. Women's purses were similar to those carried by men, but smaller, taking the form of tasselled bags that closed with tasselled drawstrings. These were often embroidered, while beadwork on leather was also popular. The decoration on this purse depicts a sprig of green and yellow acorns between a pair of birds with lozenges and flowers. It is inscribed 'I PRAY GOD TO B(sic) MY GUIDE 1634'. |
| 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.100, plate LXXII |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.55-1927 |
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| Record created | February 25, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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