2009 Record shot by L. Baumgarten. Pocketbook.

Images(2)

Pocketbook

Dateca. 1839

OriginAmerica

MediumStamped leather with thread and inserts of wove paper

DimensionsOverall (Closed): 3 3/4 x 7 1/8in. (9.5 x 18.1cm)

Credit LineGift of Mary Holt

Object number1984.1400.1

DescriptionA leather pocketbook that folds and is secured by a strap that wraps around it and fits through two slits, one on each flat side. It has a rectangular format when closed. Stamped decorations appear on either side of the two strap slits and as a border. Inside, it has two pockets with flanged calfskin flaps and several pages sewn into the spine. Circular discoloration over the inside of one of the strap slits may indicate some reinforcement that is now missing.

Artist/Maker unidentified.
InscribedIn ink in script on the first page of a paper insert is "David D/Whetsels/Pocket book/Sept tember/the 4 1839" and on the reverse of the same page is ink script that appears to read "a aimes/ah" followed by a drawing of a square. In ink in script on the next page is "forty feet long/x/by 17 seventeen/feet Wide/Wing thirty/feet long/15 feet Wide/storys 10 by 9 feet."