NAVIGATION

A Paris Embroidered Gaming Purse
Red velvet, silver thread, calf skin
Superb overall ‘mint’ condition
France
17th Century

SIZE: 17cm dia. - 6¾ ins dia.

At the end of the 17th century Europe witnessed a ‘new level’ of card game mania. Gambling with cards or ‘gaming’ was a favoured pastime for both men and women of all ages and classes. The gaming bags reflected this fashion, with a specific type of bag in which to hold one’s coins or counters won in games like ‘Put’ or ‘La Bête.’
Like other fashionable accessories of the period, the bag served more than just a functional purpose. It conveyed a message about the owner’s nationalistic sympathies.
     Of a cylindrical form, embroidered with ‘fleur-de-lys’ to the base and the circumference. The striking impression of this rare survival is the outstanding condition of the velvet and silver thread. A purse which had little use, and spent the  past 300 plus years hidden in a drawer and away from light.

Ex Private Dutch collection

A similar purse can be found in the Brooklyn Museum Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009, gift of the executors of the estate of Clara M. Blum in memory of Mr and Mrs Albert Blum, 1966