art in antique crochet....

A friend of mine over on the Teamail Yahoo group sent me an early gift of two antique crocheted purses! I was amazed when I opened the box and saw these precious bags:



These are especially unique because of thier colour - that deep chocolate brown and the irridescent coppery glass and steel beads...So beautiful! I estimate that these are from about 1909 to 1918, because I have patterns for this type of bag in my anitique knitting and crochet books from that period.

The first one is crocheted in an intermittent mesh stitch and lined with deep gold silk that shows through the mesh. The crocheted drawstring is threaded through metal rings on the inside of the lace collar, which folds over to show its beaded design when the purse is drawn closed.

The second has a completly beaded ball and tassles on the bottom end, a more complicated beaded design, and also has metal rings in the inside throat, but these rings are completely covered in tiny crochet stitches. On both, the beads are crocheted into the design, not sewed on afterwards. Both are made from the same chocolate brown silk thread - very thin silk thread.

Because they're made of the same materials, I assume they were made by the same person.... its so intriguing to speculate what that person was like... Was she elegant? A lady? An accomplished seamstress? Was she like me? Was she someone working in a design house? Or a young lady creating these for herslf and perhaps a sister or friend? My mind finally imagines her to be like Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice...

Someday I'll try my hand at making one of these. But for now, I'm happy to admire and so very grateful to my friend for thinking of me!