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Figure 2, painted in 1774, shows an example of a knitted and beaded miser purse, which must have been a familiar image to 18th century viewers.
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Fig 2
Mercury as Cut Purse, by Sir Josuah Reynolds, 1774. Faringdon Collection Trust.
This painting is paired with an another allegorical subject using children: Cupid as Link Boy. In this pair, Reynolds mocked the tradition of children representing classical subjects by placing his children in the streets of London, infused with sexual undertones. Mercury was a messenger as well as the god of commerce and was often depicted with a money bag. Here, he has stolen it.
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Click on image to see a larger detail of the purse. |
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The purse was either knitted, netted, knotted, or crocheted, using silk, cotton, wool, and sometimes metallic thread. They were often beaded. The two ends were usually decorated with beads or tassels or fringe. The earlier purses had two identical ends. Victorian purses often have each end decorated differently, so that one could easily tell which type of coin was in each end of the purse. The purses vary in length from as short as 8 inches to as long as 36 inches. The longer sizes were generally seen later, in the mid-19th century.
Miser purse knitted in dark blue silk with steel beads. Tassels and sliders of faceted steel. 11" long, including tassels. c. 1800.
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One of the reasons for the long popularity of the miser purse was that it was fairly easy to make one, and it became fashionable for young ladies to net or knit purses to give as presents, especially to gentlemen. William Cowper wrote a poem to his cousin Anne Bodham "on receiving from her a network purse made by herself." During the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, ladies' magazines often published instructions and patterns for constructing miser purses. Thomas Gardon, a watch chain and purse maker on St James Street, was one of the many vendors who provided all the necessary materials for purse-making. In the first years of the 19th century, he advertised that "Ladies may be accommodated with great choice of Purse-Twist, Tassels, and Sliders."
Miser purse netted in pink silk with steel beads. Tassels of twisted steel beaded fringe. Sliders of chased sterling. 12" long, including tassels. c. 1815.
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Miser purse crocheted in dark blue silk. Tassels of steel beaded fringe. Slider (one is missing) of steel. 12" long, including tassels. c. 1825.
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Miser purse knitted in red silk with steel beads. Tassels of steel beaded fringe. Sliders of faceted steel. 17" long, including tassels. c. 1820.
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Miser purse crocheted in multi-colored bands of silk with steel beading. Sliders of faceted steel. 15" long, including tassels. c. 1825.
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Tiny miser purse netted in red silk. Tassels of steel beaded fringe. Sliders of faceted steel. 8 " long, including tassels. c. 1800.
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Miser purse netted in dark blue silk with steel beads (many of them now rusted). Sliders of faceted steel. 13" long, including tassels. c. 1820.
Click on image for more detail.
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Sources for more information on miser purses:
Genevieve Cummings & Nerylla Taunton, Chatelaines, Antique Collectors Club, 1994.
Vanda Foster, Bags and Purses, Batsford, 1982.
Evelyn Haertig, Antique Combs and Purses, Gallery Graphics Press, 1983.
Evelyn Haertig, More Beautiful Purses, Gallery Graphics Press, 1990.
Evelyn Haertig, Restoring and Collecting Antique Beaded Purses, Gallery Graphics Press, 2000
Clare Wilcox, Bags, V&A Publications, 1999.
Linda Winfield,Leslie Piña, and Constance Korosec, Beads on Bags 1800-2000, Schiffer Publishing, 2000.
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