Ladies Purse

[skippy]

Greetings,

I'm not sure if this is the right forum. I have a purse that I don't know anything about. All I know is that they are called Gate Top and a lot of them were made by Whiting & Davis. I believe they are still made today. Mine how ever seams to be an older one it has no markings at all and the top is sewn to the bag and not held buy metal rings. I don't know how far these purses date back. Would any body have a clue how to date my purse.

Thank You
Skip

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Hi! That's a lovely piece- you're very fortunate. I can't remember seeing one with that particular closure, thanks for posting it.

Tell you where you can find around a bazillion era purses, generally with dates attached is Pinterest? I'm not sure if they make you join just to browse now- they did not previously but that may have changed. Still, doesn't cost anything and unlike a lot of sites Pinterest doesn't send those endless streams of ' update ' emails. Type ' Civil War purse ' or ' purse 1860 ', in the search option, then just follow the various photos to people's collections. I'm positive someone will have one like this along with the date.

Yes, correct forum! If you look back to some previous threads we have one or 2 on era purses- might have one like this and I've just forgotten.

 

[donna]

What a lovely purse. Thanks for sharing.

 

[skippy]

Thank you jpk Huson and donna. I will into your suggestions. I have searched the net up and down prior but really couldn't find much to my satisfaction. Will try Pinterest.

 

[18thVirginia]

Thanks for sharing, skippy.

I have a part of an old metal purse, which I now know more about, thanks to JPK and this forum.

 

[donna]

I have a couple of old purses. Will have to find out more about them.

 

[DJenne]

Hi Skip,
That is a great looking purse. Very interesting. I think if you add "chatelaine" to your search you'll find more like it.

The chatelaine bag is based on a very old (medieval old) style of purse whereby the keeper of the castle kept the keys and important items in a small purse that could be locked. At various times, this style has become all the rage as you have found. In Victorian times, in the 1920s flapper age, Again in the 50s and of course these days, anything old is in vogue (something I bank on actually as I buy and sell vintage). So that said, the purse confuses me a bit and if you'll bear with me, here are my thoughts... (and I sincerely hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes here as I am new to this forum...Hello! I am Deborah.)

In looking at dating an item, one wants to be certain that all parts of the item mesh (forgive the pun). Do all the parts make sense together? Do they have the same "wear"? What are the various materials? What's confusing me a bit about this is the bag material itself. I can't place it and it "feels" to me to be more modern than the other parts. It's not an actual "mesh" per-se as there aren't any pieces connected together. Its more thread and material (is that correct?) The top is certainly older, brass and the copper in the brass is reacting to whatever is in the material below. The chain is not brass, more of a copper color and could be newer.
The interior looks like silk..is it? So the next set of questions relates to provenance...
Where did the bag come from? How did you come by it? Did it come out of a trunk somewhere? Has it been in your family for long? Did you find it at an estate sale? etc... (you do not need to answer these to me, just for your own reference).
So it leaves me wondering and if you do have more info, it will be nice to hear. In the meantime..I'll be tracking that fabric down.
Again, pardon my long answer!
Deborah

 

[skippy]

Thank you Deborah, to me it looks all belong together, the parts make sense together (but I could be wrong). I have the same problem as you to date this one. Yes it is thread and material the brass top is sewn to the bag and not held with brass rings. The chain is of copper and could have been added later, the interior is silk. I found this it at an estate sale in, Missouri. This is all I know about the purse. I thank you for your input, maybe you can help me to solve this one,

Regards Skip

 

[DJenne]

Hi Skip! The gauntlet is thrown!! I'll keep checking. Did you buy anything else at the sale?

 

[skippy]

Yes Djenne, I bought more from this estate but was not related to the purse ( and old 1860's chest) and others. I hope that challenge is not for me, *(just kidding) smile.

 

[DJenne]

I was thinking maybe other things will give you a sense of where the family came from (like if they had immigrant parents from Europe) or something like that. It can give you clues. A 1860 chest is VERY cool! Congrats on that find.