Pocketbook

Date1696 (dated)

MediumLeather with silver and silk needlework; silk and linen linings.

DimensionsOW: 8"; OL(open): 6 1/2"; Closed: 4 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-347

DescriptionRectangular brown leather pocketbook with slightly shaped flap, embroidered with silver and gold metallic threads, and colored silks (rose, blue, and green), in symmetrical floral palmettes enclosing the inscription "Constantinople 1696". Pocketbook is lined with rose-color linen, natural linen, and coral silk taffeta. Interior has two compartments with a flapped leather divider. Replacement or repair lining of white kid along front, under flap. The embroidered leather is glued to the linen backing.
Label TextA relatively large number of similarly embroidered pocketbooks were inscribed with the city names "Constantinople" in Turkey and "Tetuan" in northern Morocco. The surviving examples date from the late seventeenth century to the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Perhaps the pocketbooks were souvenirs of travels, but were they actually embroidered in the locations written on them? The English diarist Samuel Pepys had a similar pocketbook embroidered with his name, "Saml Pepys Esq" and "Constantinople Anno 1687." Pepys was not in Constantinople that year, and we assume the wallet may have been a gift. A "Tetuan" pocketbook (CWF 1936-587) is interlined with old English-language printed papers, suggesting that it was made in an English-speaking area or under the direction of a British merchant.
MarkingsEmbroidered in silver "CONSTANTINOPLE" and dated "1696".

Exhibition(s)