Wooden Purse with real butterflys date help?

I know nothing about this purse.....

It ia qood, not a gourd, though thats whay I originaly thought. I am pretty sure hand made. The hinges on the top look older liek 40s or earlier.... while the chain looks 70s ish.

It is tons of real buterflys that have been pressed and a thick coating (not sure the proper term for this) put over them. It is usable but could be in better condition. One butterfly is missing ,,,, and a few have cracks, that could be resealed.

Any idea of dating or is this too hard to tell? I am sure it is hand done but just so interesting....

Thank you all!!

sorry for bad pics, they are on cell phone again.












So maybe a 70s or even 80s piece with older hinges? or older piece that has had a chain replacement and a very creative maker?

Thank you all for advice!

 

The term would be decoupage. I am going to have to get my head around what the form might be besides carved wood. the view from here looks like they are butterflies cut out of paper....I guess part of me can't believe they are "real" - i am not doubting you - I just never saw that before. I think the chain was replaced. It could have even been a cord to match the lining or a leather strap, but that's just my assessment. I have seen that bright green felt in later purses too, however. If they are "real" butterflies then I doubt this is 70s from the big push for awareness about endagnered species/animal cruelty. I know - a lot of butterflies in butterfly collections are curated after they die of natural causes sometimes, but that would make me err on the side of it being earlier than that. But I don't really know the history of butterfly collecting. But on the other hand, there was a lot of DIY, so very well could be

 

ywah the person who brought it to me thought it was painted... then i thought no its paperish... the after really looking,,, they are real butterflys..... one has a chip and I can actually see the lines and texture of the wings.... the big ones body is also not as flat as the others.. his center was still lumpy and I can run my hand over it and feel the antena's and such... the wigns edges are also a little tattered on some and they are not uniform.. I am sad to say they are real,....poor little things but still awesome to look at...

Thanks for input... any idea of possible age?

here is a closer photo pf the ingles and the hardware

 

My mom had something very similar to this in the 70s. She and her friends used to get together and decoupage everything. They made a lot of these purses and butterflies were put on many of them. They used lunchboxes and curtain tassles a lot too.