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Wallet
Unknown - Enlarge image
Wallet
- Place of origin:
Istanbul, Turkey (probably, made)
- Date:
1705 (dated)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Leather, embroidered with silver and gold thread
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs Wilkins
- Museum number:
W.13-1967
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 54b, case 2
Object Type
This purse is one of a number of leather wallets in existence that were brought back to Britain as souvenirs from Constantinople (Istanbul). These wallets are all personalised with gold and silver embroidery which states the owner's name and the date and place of purchase.
Time & Place
Constantinople, situated on the Bosphorus Straights, was the capital of the Byzantine empire for 1,100 years. After the Ottoman Turks captured the city in 1453 they renamed it Istanbul. However, Europeans usually referred to the metropolis by its former name. It was a shopper's paradise, crammed with boutiques that sold sophisticated luxuries, such as this leather wallet.
People
We do not know anything about Robert St Leger. The early date of 1705 makes it unlikely that he was a tourist. However, many English merchants were active in the Ottoman empire at this time. For example, in Aleppo, Syria, the English had the largest khan (warehouse) of all the European traders. 'Factors' or representatives of the English trading houses tended to be younger sons of wealthy families, looking to make a fortune in exchanging such commodities as English wool for Iranian silk. Perhaps this was Robert St Leger's occupation. He may have commissioned the wallet as a memento of his stay abroad on returning home to Britain via Constantinople.
