Bag
ca. 1700 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
By the end of the 17th century, fashionable bags were round in shape. The pale ground of the embroidery and pattern of brightly coloured flowers in this example are typical of French bags of this period. Finishing the drawstrings are very ornate tassels of silver-gilt thread.
The lack of a more secure fastening than a drawstring suggests that this purse was intended to hold a keepsake or to wrap a gift of money, rather than everyday monetary use.
The lack of a more secure fastening than a drawstring suggests that this purse was intended to hold a keepsake or to wrap a gift of money, rather than everyday monetary use.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Linen, silk thread, silver-gilt thread; hand sewn, hand embroidered, hand plaited |
| Brief description | Bag, embroidered linen, ca. 1700, French?, coloured silks in stylized flowers, silver-gilt tassels |
| Physical description | A flat, shield-shaped bag of linen, embroidered with a rococo stitch ground of white silk with stylized flowers in coloured silks worked in gobelin and back stitches. The bag is bound with silver-gilt ribbon and has a silver-gilt drawstring with large silver-gilt tassels. The green silk lining is a later replacement. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | By the end of the 17th century, fashionable bags were round in shape. The pale ground of the embroidery and pattern of brightly coloured flowers in this example are typical of French bags of this period. Finishing the drawstrings are very ornate tassels of silver-gilt thread. The lack of a more secure fastening than a drawstring suggests that this purse was intended to hold a keepsake or to wrap a gift of money, rather than everyday monetary use. |
| 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.101 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.11-1922 |
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 Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis.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 | July 9, 2008 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
