Vintage bags and purses are so very popular these days because they are so easy to collect. They are not hard to find, a cinch to display, and come in a wide variety of styles and materials.
And many vintage purses are also still very usable, especially for special occasions. And they are a classy, yet affordable alternative to today’s high-priced designer bags.
There are lots of names for vintage purses; some we know well — pocket book, clutch, handbag, reticule (drawstring bag) and satchel (cloth bag with a handle).
There is no doubt that the most popular bags on the antiques market today are the beaded and metal mesh bags.
Beaded bags go back to the early 18th Century, when the French made them with glass beads so tiny that the bags were called “sable,” meaning “sand.”
These bags continued to be popular through the 20th Century with various sized glass beads. From the 1930s on, most beaded bags, even some very good quality ones, were made with plastic beads.
Metal mesh bags made their first appearance in the 1820s in silver and silver-plated nickel.
Steel mesh bags were Victorian favorites from the 1860s on. The mesh bag, like the beaded bag, enjoyed a resurgence of popularity among the flappers of the 1920s. These Art Deco mesh bags are often chrome-plated and/or enameled in stylish designs.
Whiting & Davis was the leading manufacturer of mesh bags and are most sought-after by collectors.
Prices for beaded and mesh bags average from $150 to $250. You can find some less expensive and some for a great deal more. It all depends on condition, style and the quality of the workmanship.
Bag collectors have also expanded their scope to include such things as minaudieres and necessaires.
The minaudiere was developed by Van Cleef and Arpels in 1930. The name comes from a French word meaning to simper and mince in an affected manner.
It was supposedly named as a tribute to Estelle Van Cleef’ (who was also Arpel’s sister). Both gentlemen found the lady’s pouty, feminine mannerisms to be charmingly alluring (think Daisy in “The Great Gatsby”).
The shape of the original minaudiere was inspired by the “flat fifties” Lucky Strike cigarette tin, which held fifty cigarettes. The minaudiere is also a flat, rigid box, usually metal and often silver or gold.
It was ingeniously designed by with various compartments and mechanisms to hold all, or at least some, of the things a sophisticated woman might need for an evening out on the town — lipstick, mascara, eye shadow, rouge, facial powder, keys, bills, coins and, of course, cigarettes and a lighter.
Necessaires are cylindrical versions of the minaudiere. They became popular in the 1950s, and swung from the lady’s wrist by either a chain or a fabric sleeve with a tassel dangling below.
Both nesessaires and minaudieres can be quite expensive. While you may find some in they $150 range, if they are sterling, gold-plated and/or have elaborated enamel work, they can be nearly $1,000.
No bag collector should overlook three of the most popular bags of the 1950s and early ‘60s – the neat rhinestone clutch, tapestry bags, classy peau de soie (silk skin) and the fascinating Lucite plastic box.
To learn more about bag collecting, try Roselyn Gerson’s “Vanity Bags and Purses,” published by Collector Books.
–Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton.
