Arts and Crafts Steel Cut Coin Purse

Here is a rare and lovely miniature coin purse from the arts and crafts period. This piece features a silvertone floral graphic in an art nouveau/arts and crafts style. There is a small button that pops open the lid. The base is a woven material that is delicately decorated with hand applied steel cut beads, the material is discolored with age, a warm grey. Miraculously all the beads appear to be present, clean and secure. The beads are sewn into the pattern of an 8 pointed star. This is a wonderful little piece of history. I wonder who owned this and what the kept inside it. This coin purse is manufactured by “Bostonia” which is embossed in the lid, and dated “Dec. 15, ’03. Many Bostonia coin purses feature Native american beading and graphics, This one is quite unique as it has a floral motif instead of the Native imagery. The Native Americans were commissioned to do the bead work and forwarded their wares to the Bostonia company to complete the designs. The bead work is similar to that of the tribes in the Great Lakes region in America at the turn of the 19th century. The 8 pointed star was said to symbolize hope and guidance.  

This is a Tam O Shanter style purse, meaning it has the same construction as tam o' shanter flat bonnet: originally made of wool hand-knitted in one piece, stretched on a disc to give the distinctive flat shape. I stuffed the purse for the video and one of the photos so you could see its volume, but this piece is flat when unstuffed. :)

Size: 2.4in round x .5in tall (unstuffed)
Metal: Silver tone metal, likely silver plated, no hallmark