Offered is a beautiful, and rarely seen, large-size dance compact purse from Austria dating to 1920 with a lovely engine turned and hand painted enameled front panel which is framed in fancy filigree sterling silver. The body of the purse is made of black silk, and it has a cream moire silk lining and a compartment lined in kid suede in the same cream color.   The wrist strap and tassel are also done in black silk.     

The guilloche enamel is hand painted in a cream color and is decorated with periwinkle blue, black and bright gold repeating patterns.  Although there are no marks inside this dance purse, it was most likely made in Austria around the turn of the century. The silver filigree frame sections have been tested to sterling.  

The guilloche enameled plaque measures 4" by 4", and the entire front of the purse, including the sterling filigree accents on the sides measures 5 1/2" by 5". The purse, in it's entirety, measures 14 1/2" long from top of wrist strap to bottom of tassel.

The overall condition is very good antique. There is some slight fraying of the silk around the loop of the wrist strap where it attaches to the top of the purse which I have photographed for you, and there is some light surface soil on the back of the purse in the silk, and a tiny bit of corner fraying on the upper left corner. I have taken pictures of this also.  Loose silk threads can be snipped. All of the tassel strands are in place. The interior moire silk lining is clean, and the kid leather interior compartment is also clean, and it's lift-up snap and closure mechanism works well. The snap to secure the entire front panel to the purse works well also.  The original mirror shows streaking and fogging from age.  There are no chips, cracks or stains in the enamel.