Gold embroidered bag - 1940s???

awaywiffairies

awaywiffairies

Registered Guest
Hi everyone!

I acquired this bag....it's hand embroidered 'Made In India' but packaged and going by the language on the box, sold in Austria or Germany?

The person I bought it from said it belonged to her mother & that before her mother met her father, she dated a gentleman in the 1940s that travelled around Europe on business & when he returned home to her in the UK, always bought a gift. This bag is apparently one of these gifts & so I'm led to believe it's 1940s but I really don't know. (Oh it was bought from an Indian family, so he must have seen it when in Europe & cos it was made in India, reminded him of her...awwwhh).

At the back of the bag there is a tight strap so you can hold it from the back so all the detail on the front can be seen. There are press studs to close the bag. The outer fabric seems like a brushed cotton or velvet.

I've shown the original box it came in, it doesnt look like the lady used the bag as it's in such a clean state, apart from discoloration of the outer thread work due to age & storage. Oh hold on, I think the outer thread is meant to be darker, so I'll take that back!

So, is this 1940s or later? Also, is this from Austria or Germany? If it is 1940s, would it be pre war or after? Be nice if it was 40s as would be interesting re European history at that time!

Thankyou!

Sarah

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hmmm, having a search online & there's a couple, 1 which is very similar on Etsy, so they look like they might hv been mass produced & exported everywhere (USA, Germany....) & now I'm having doubts that it dates any earlier than the 60s.... :damnit: how stupid do I feel? :icon_wall:
 
You're not stupid.

The thing is...anecdotal information can sometimes be foggy. I have had the experience with myself thinking "i've had this forever" and I've only had it 10 years. It could be that the daughter always remembers mom having it, and because its listed as being from India, she had assumed, especially if its something her dad wouldn't have gotten her or mom's taste changed over the years.
 
I've seen that style of India-made bag (snap top clutch in silk with bullion embroidery) dated anywhere from 40s to 70s, and wonder if perhaps the style did last for several decades...

I had one with a gold braid cord that I felt was later (60s/70s), and a daffodil yellow silk one studded with cabochon agates and quartzes that struck me as 50s/60s. The wrist strap on yours suggests earlier, as does the outsourced embroidery (I have a 40s leather wallet with a bullion embroidered insert in the original packaging, and it has a card marked "Hand Embroidered in India", much like yours...

So, it's not implausible that the bag is a souvenir of 40s Europe. Sorry I can't help more than that!
 
My mother had a similar bag. Hers was 50's, most likely early 50's. I think they exported these for decades, as mentioned above.

Janine
 
I think it may well be 40s. I have two silk belts made in India, and I know they're, at the latest, mid 40s as they belonged to the wife of an officer who was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the war. The embroidery work on your bag is so much like on one of the belts it's uncanny.

I also don't think that the hand straps were common into the 60s, but I may be wrong on that. I've never seen a clutch with strap that dated much past 1950. Maybe these from India did, though, if they exported the same style for decades.
 
I have a nearly identical purse and have seen many others - they were made for export and were extremely popular in the late 1940s. Weisbaden is where the Ameircan airbase is, so a lot of items were brought in for the U.S. personel stationed there.
 
yes, they are timeless.

they were readily available (new) at the tailor we had while in Indonesia, which was 1990-92, as well. they had some fabulous quality items, as well as some lower-end inexpensive pieces~ that embroidery is delicious!

beautiful bag, Sarah! i'd carry it in a heartbeat!
 
I think this kind of gold embroidery is typical for India and Central Asia... I remember seeing it being done on traditional heavy velvet coats on my trip to Uzbekistan. There it's actually the men who traditionally do this kind of embroidery, not women!

As for the box - it's got nothing to do with the handbag, sorry. The box originally held candles - "konische handgetauchte Kerzen" meaning "conic (or conically shaped???) handmade candles". Handgetaucht meaning, candles handmade by the dipping in the candle wax technique. Sorry, I don't know what you call this technique in English :puzzled:. Gies would have been the company name. And on the side it says that it held a dozen 8" candles, and below is stamped the color - I think it says "adventsgelb", meaning "advent yellow" - Advent in this case would be the time before Christmas. The shop where they were bought was a "Drogerie" - a drugstore. The price was 55 Pfennig (Cents) - I have no idea if the box is pre- or post-war... This amount would indicate to me though that it is from a time, when the Mark was pretty strong.

Karin
 
:clapping: Thankyou so much for all the replies! I jus wanna say, that I think this Guild is fab cos for u all to give your knowledge & expertise so generously & freely to newbies just bowls me over. Not being crawly, I mean it! :embaressed:

Anyway! Basically the bag has and still has mass appeal & has been exported/imported since 1940s. It looks like mine could be one of those from the 1940s. Very interesting re the box & made me chuckle...I did wonder why there was a pic of candles on there! Thanks Karin for interpreting...makes the box interesting in it's own right! So, the box would have come from where the American airbase is (thanks Jonathan)& thxs lkranieri 4 the resource on the shop.

Interesting that the men probably did the embroidery!

Once again, thanks to EVERYONE that's posted..learnt loads as usual (cmpollack, lots of terminology which I need 2 look up!).

Sarah :bouncy:
 
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