Evening pouch

Unknown

1830–60 · glass, silk, linen · Costume Institute

Knitted beadwork bags, whether made from a pattern or in a professional workshop, were de rigueur for the fashionable 19th-century woman. The motifs on this evening bag are simple and elegant. The variation of round and beveled beads adds surface texture and sparkle. Violets against a black ground suggest the colors of half-mourning; in Victorian floriography, blue violets represent faithfulness. Margaret S. Bedell (1861-1932) donated, by gift or bequest, over 500 objects to the Brooklyn Museum, including furniture, quilts, samplers, costume and Native American beadwork. Her collection of American and European beaded bags includes examples from Philadelphia and the Catskill Mountain region of New York State, as well as Italy, Austria, Germany, and Holland.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1830–60

Medium

glass, silk, linen

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Margaret S. Bedell, 1930