Embroidered silk satin bag, 1790-1800, English

Bag or pocket with drawstrings embroidered with flowers coming out of a Grecian or roman urn with parrot motif in the centre. Pink tassel and pink tassel string straps

Given by Messrs Harrods Ltd.

This was part of a very large collection of items of dress and accessories which was given to the Museum by Harrods, the department store, in 1913. The collection had been formed by the artist Talbot Hughes, who wrote a book on the history of dress, illustrated with photographs of models wearing items from his collection. A large firm in America had offered to buy the collection and present it to the Metropolitan Museum, New York, but Hughes did not want it to go abroad. At the suggestion of Cecil Harcourt Smith of the V&A, Harrods bought it for £2,500 and gave it to the Museum for the 'public good'. Harrods displayed the collection for three weeks in December 1913.

This bag shows the transition between hidden pockets and external reticule. Although embroidered for show and with drawstrings, the bag still resembles a pocket. Domestic embroidery and beadwork was less sophisticated that that produced by workshops, although by the standards of today beautifully accomplished.

T.724C-1913