Handbag
ca. 1910 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The first few years of the twentieth century saw, for the lady of leisure, a continuation of the fashionable preoccupations of the nineteenth century. Magazines of the day describe bags for every occasion, from fitted leather bags with telescopic opera glasses and folding fan to drawstring theatre bags with a mirror set into the base. There were leather 'shopping' bags and even briefcase bags, for many more women were entering the professional work force and supported women's suffrage. This example contains a change purse, mirror, bone note card, pencil, swansdown powder puff, telescopic opera glasses and white organdie folding fan with gilt spangles.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 7 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Leather, lined with silk, brass, bone (Bos Taurus/domesticated cow), metal, plastic, swansdown, glass, embroidered silk, spangles, swansdown |
| Brief description | Leather handbag, opera glasses, fan, mirror, note card with pencil and powder puff, Lemiere, France, ca. 1910 |
| Physical description | Opera handbag made of beige leather lined with cream silk. The carrying handle is of beige plaited silk trimmed with two matching tassels. Rectangular shape with a flap fastening with a brass lever catch. The bag is fitted with a snap-fastening change purse at the top. Below this is a scalloped pocket which contained a leather-backed mirror, a bone note card, pencil, opera glasses, fan of embroidered white silk to which are stitched gilt spangles. The sticks of the fan are of white bone, hinged and decorated with brass studs and eyelets. A rectangular slot is below this. On the bottom flap is a small button fastening purse containing a white swansdown powder puff. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | This small leather bag measures just 16 cm when closed. Surprisingly, it opens to reveal a spacious interior divided into compartments and pocket
to neatly keep all the accessories needed for a night at the opera: a snap-fastening change purse at the top, a scalloped pocket containing a leather-backed mirror, a notecard and a pencil. There is also space for opera glasses, a collapsible silk fan and a powder puff.
V&A, Room 40, Bags: Inside Out. (12/2020) |
| Credit line | Given by Miss N. L. Foster |
| Summary | The first few years of the twentieth century saw, for the lady of leisure, a continuation of the fashionable preoccupations of the nineteenth century. Magazines of the day describe bags for every occasion, from fitted leather bags with telescopic opera glasses and folding fan to drawstring theatre bags with a mirror set into the base. There were leather 'shopping' bags and even briefcase bags, for many more women were entering the professional work force and supported women's suffrage. This example contains a change purse, mirror, bone note card, pencil, swansdown powder puff, telescopic opera glasses and white organdie folding fan with gilt spangles. |
| Bibliographic reference | Bags V&A Exhibition (Project)
Bags: Inside Out (2020) Lucia Savi, V&A Publishing, pg 73
|
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.219 to F-1965 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | March 1, 2003 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
