Don’t you believe that each antique longs to tell its secrets …

This sensational beaded vintage purse, I’m certain, has a most interesting story.  It may have belonged to a woman named Ruth, for inside, I found an envelope addressed to a “Miss Ruth Weaver” with a return address stamped on the back from a chiropractor and a postmark of 1926 Indianapolis where she lived just south of historic Woodruff Place.  Did Miss Weaver have a bad back from dancing the night away?  Or was the chiropractor a beau?  We’ll never know but there’s more …

It is covered with loops of midnight blue carnival glass seed beads.  They shimmer so beautifully, especially upon movement.  The frame is an ornate three dimensional art nouveau design.  I don’t know if the grosgrain ribbon handle is a replacement, but if it is, it was replaced long ago and hand-stitched to the rings .  It is broken and could be most easily replaced, if so desired.

Upon opening the purse, a small beveled mirror is attached by a strip of silk fabric to the top edge and a coin purse in matching silk is attached in the center, where it swivels,  built right into the frame.

It was inside the purse that I found the envelope.  Inside are lots of loose beads and two straight pins.  Was Miss Ruth in the process of decorating her purse, or were they wayward beads that escaped as she kicked up her heels in her new, flirtatious flapper dress?  There are a few loose threads at each edge of the purse, near the hinges of the frame.  Could these be the threads that once held these wild and carefree beads?

As you can see, this purse needs a new owner.  I’m having entirely too much fun making up Miss Weaver’s escapades!  (Or maybe … Miss Weaver was the crotchety old maid aunt who snatched the purse from her gallivanting niece, tearing the handle and breaking the loops of thread holding the beads.)  It’s your turn now! 

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty:  This is a superb flapper era purse with masses of looped midnight blue carnival glass beading covering the entire purse.  The shimmering iridescence is incredible!  The exceptional art nouveau frame has a bar in the center from which a coin purse is attached.  A strip of silk holds a small beveled mirror which is in very good condition, with minor crazing to the silvering.  The dark blue silk lining is, for the most part, in very good condition but there are a couple of splits – probably caused by the envelope when it was contained inside.  The grosgrain ribbon handle is broken in two and may be a replacement done by the original owner in the 1920s.  There are a few loose or broken threads near the hinges that probably held the loose beads contained in the envelope.  And, of course, there is the envelope with the beads and pins, postmarked 1926 from Indianapolis and addressed to Miss Ruth Weaver of the same.

Measures approximately 6” in diameter, but measured from the top of the clasp to the bottom of the purse, it is about 7 ¾” from loops of beads to the tip of the clasp.