English Purses or evening bags have been used as accessories for decades at least since back in the 16th and 17th centuries. The most desirable ones are those made with the tiniest of beads and pictorial designs.
Below are some examples, information and price guides of English beaded purses including a multi-colored floral designed bag and an early 17th century purse.
Purse 1800-1829 (made)
Purse of coloured glass beads knitted with cotton in the process known as ‘purse’ or ‘bead’ knitting. Central band of floral motifs, with upper and lower borders of geometric design in blue and yellow.
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
AN ENGLISH BEADED EVENING PURSE, in a multi-colored floral design, suspended on an amber frame with metal link chain, fully lined with gold and rose iridescent fringe, 8-1/4 in. width, 10 in. length (with fringe). C. 1920.
Sold for $100 at O’Gallerie in 2008
Purse early 17th century
Small decorative purses and bags such as this one rarely appear in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century portraits, but they have survived in relatively large numbers. This example, with its lively pattern of flowers, birds, and butterflies, was executed with a generous amount of gold and silver metal thread of very high quality, worked with polychrome silk threads to create subtly shaded colors.
Canvas worked with silk and metal thread, glass beads, spangles; Gobelin, tent, and detached buttonhole stitches; silk cord and silk and metal thread tassels
Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
