dating help on child's (?) tooled leather purse

cmpollack

cmpollack

VFG Member
dating help on child\'s (?) tooled leather purse

I know little girl purses came on the scene post-Lanvin in the 20s, and the "grown up" tinted tooled leather Italian purses I've had in the past have been 20s/30s. But the innards of this one seem somehow later--could it be 40s?

It measures a wee 3.5" x 4", and has a 1 1/2" coin purse and a bitty leather backed metal mirror (the tooling pattern on the mirror is different). Stamped simply "Made in Italy".

Also, does anyone know how these purses were tinted? (the colors remind me of stained glass...) Were they handpainted or is that some form of leather dye?

many thanks for your help!

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That impressed leather is called FLorentine work and it was very popular in the 1920s and early 30s. I suspect its a woman's purse from the mid-late 20s.
 
Thanks for taking a peek, Amanda and Jonathan!

"Florentine"--that's the word to describe it! (Duh... I even have a Florentine purse in my shop right now, which makes my memory glitch even more inexplicable!) Thanks for jogging my memory, Jonathan...

I'm surprised to learn this is a woman's purse, though I guess the tango/dance purses of the 20s were downright tiny. Not much more would fit into this one besides hanky, a few coins, and a (flat) compact or rouge. A lipstick would have had to be quite petite for the flap to snap over it...

Thanks very much!
 
You didn't need much of a purse when things cost 10 cents and you didn't have an Ipod, PDA, cell phone, car keys, check book......
 
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