Gaming purse

Unknown

1690–1710 · silk, linen · Costume Institute

A new level of card game mania swept Europe during the 17th century and continued into the 18th century. Gambling with cards or "gaming" was a favored pastime for both men and women of all ages and classes. Gaming purses, round flat-bottomed pouches that closed by means of a drawsting were worked in various materials. This examples is worked in fine petit point needlework. Its repeat pattern of pink flowers is interrupted only once by a single yellow flower. This anamoly may have personalized the bag, relating it to a particular owner.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1690–1710

Medium

silk, linen

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume 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