Handbag
1889 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The term 'handbag' first referred to the hand-held luggage bags usually carried by men, but in the latter part of the nineteenth century practical and stylistic elements of the leather travelling bag, such as its metal fastenings and compartmentalised interior, ticket pockets and sturdy handle, inspired the new handbag for women, the precursor of the twentieth-century handbag. The very small leather handbags of the late nineteenth century, while extremely small, still alluded to the details of hand luggage with its pockets, complicated fastenings, locks and tiny keys.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Leather, crocodile (alligator) and kidskin, with chrome fittings. Bone (Bos Taurus/domesticated cow) |
| Brief description | Brown leather handbag, 1889, English; crocodile skin and calf with a chrome clasp |
| Physical description | Brown leather handbag with an external purse of crocodile skin, lined with kid. Chrome clasp and fittings, original key, circular chrome handle covered in leather with chrome links |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | THE HANDBAG
Some aspects of the handbag as we know it today originated from hand-held luggage commonly carried by men and known originally as 'handbags'. Such sturdy leather bags were designed for security, respectability and privacy and featured metal frames, locks, keys and multiple compartments. By the 1880s, handbags had lost their connection with utilitarian travel and gradually became fashionable accessories associated instead with women. These later versions allude to the characteristics of hand luggage in their construction and in details such as pockets and fastenings, but were much smaller and made of expensive leather, silk or velvet.
V&A, Room 40, Bags: Inside Out. (12/2020) |
| Credit line | Given by A. Weingott |
| Object history | This bag is one of six late 19th c. bags given to the museum in 1956 by Arthur Weingott, a former employee of Selfridges said to have spent "the past fifty years in the handbag trade". |
| Summary | The term 'handbag' first referred to the hand-held luggage bags usually carried by men, but in the latter part of the nineteenth century practical and stylistic elements of the leather travelling bag, such as its metal fastenings and compartmentalised interior, ticket pockets and sturdy handle, inspired the new handbag for women, the precursor of the twentieth-century handbag. The very small leather handbags of the late nineteenth century, while extremely small, still alluded to the details of hand luggage with its pockets, complicated fastenings, locks and tiny keys. |
| Bibliographic reference | Nominal File MA/1/W1105 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.61-1956 |
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| Record created | February 28, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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