Late 19th - Early 20th Century Paste Glass Rhinestone Mini Purse
| Type: | coin purse or minaudiere (?) |
| Designer: | unknown, handmade |
| Materials: | clear glass faceted stones silverplated copper frame cotton tatted body |
| Color: | overall antique white |
| Origin: | surely made in U.S.A. (no tags or marks of any kind) |
| Period: | Edwardian, early 1900s? |
| Height: | 4" (10 cm), or 4.5" with kiss lock clasp |
| Width: | 5.25" (13.3 cm) |
| Depth: | up to @ 3" (7.6 cm) |
| Strap: | paperclip type chain, @ 6.5" long |
| Compartments: | 1 main interior compartment 1 small slip pocket in lining |
| Closure: | top kisslock clasp |
| Markings/Tags: | no tags of any kind |
| Lining: | off-white silk charmeuse (I think real silk) |
| Flaws: | 1) wear to silver on frame, copper is dark from tarnish 2) a 1" area at top of frame should be reinforced (photo 13) 3) slight separation of lining by one hinge (photo 10), some weak threads 4) it may be missing 1 stone but I'm not sure (photo 9) |
| Condition: | very good vintage / antique condition wear commensurate with age |
This is one of several vintage mesh bags coming (most of them seen in photo 8), and is the oldest. I'm sure it's handmade but it almost looks homemade, too (like a needlecraft from a pattern, the sort of thing Godey's Lady's Book and related magazine used to have) as the base seems to be cotton and looks like tatting, with the stones set into copper cups and held by four prongs each. (It seems like the prongs are bent over the mesh to hold it together...no machine could do this.) It may be missing one stone, but it's hard to say (see photo 9) as the base mesh is flexible and not a rigid grid. The frame seems to be copper (non-magnetic) with a silver wash and has a very tiny pattern engraved on all edges. The kiss lock clasp is very dark, all silver worn away there, and probably a hundred years of oxidation to the copper.
The lining shows some wear, mainly in being slightly detached from the frame at one corner and one edge, plus a few weak spots, but the silk isn't shattered, it's generally holding strong. The silk (I really think it's actual silk) has a dimpled effect all over from resting against the back of the rhinestone grid for who knows how many decades. There are no tags and no sign of there ever having been tags, plus the stitching is a little unusual...part of why I suspect this may have been made at home from a pattern or something.
As to the intended function I don't know as it looks like a change purse shape to me, but then maybe it was an evening bag of earlier generations, pre-Deco and before the long beaded ones of the 20s? The paperclip chain 'strap' is only about 6" long total, just enough to get it over the hand...maybe. It looks good in the hand, though, sparkling and glittering, but in a gentle way...it looks actually antique, in a way reproductions just don't.
If I forgot anything, we're always happy to answer questions. And we have more vintage metal mesh bags coming.