Bag
1630-1650 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Many decorative early 17th century bags survive, but it is not entirely certain how they were used and worn. They are too delicate and elaborate to serve as receptacles for money carried on one’s person on a daily basis. Few commercial exchanges in the early 17th century required cash, and most household shopping was done by servants. However, they were used as a form of gift-wrapping for the presents of coin that were offered as a New Year’s gifts to the monarch.
These embroidered bags may also be the ‘sweet bags’ frequently listed in inventories and offered as gifts. These held perfumed powder or dried flowers and herbs, and were perhaps applied to the nose like a pomander when necessary.
The rather simplified pattern of flowers worked in heavy silver and silver-gilt threads and dense texture of the embroidery on this example is characteristic of the period 1630 to 1650.
These embroidered bags may also be the ‘sweet bags’ frequently listed in inventories and offered as gifts. These held perfumed powder or dried flowers and herbs, and were perhaps applied to the nose like a pomander when necessary.
The rather simplified pattern of flowers worked in heavy silver and silver-gilt threads and dense texture of the embroidery on this example is characteristic of the period 1630 to 1650.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Linen, silk, silver and silver-gilt threads; hand sewn, hand embroidered, hand plaited |
| Brief description | Bag, embroidered linen, 1630-1650, British; silver & silver-gilt thread, purl, strip, with silk strings |
| Physical description | A flat square bag of linen with couched ground of silver thread, embroidered with silver-gilt purl, strip, thread and spangles. The bag has silver loops, a silver and coral silk plaited drawstring and finials, and was once lined in pink silk |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | Many decorative early 17th century bags survive, but it is not entirely certain how they were used and worn. They are too delicate and elaborate to serve as receptacles for money carried on one’s person on a daily basis. Few commercial exchanges in the early 17th century required cash, and most household shopping was done by servants. However, they were used as a form of gift-wrapping for the presents of coin that were offered as a New Year’s gifts to the monarch. These embroidered bags may also be the ‘sweet bags’ frequently listed in inventories and offered as gifts. These held perfumed powder or dried flowers and herbs, and were perhaps applied to the nose like a pomander when necessary. The rather simplified pattern of flowers worked in heavy silver and silver-gilt threads and dense texture of the embroidery on this example is characteristic of the period 1630 to 1650. |
| 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 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 321-1876 |
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| Record created | July 8, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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