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Purse: T.1-1836

An image of Purse
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Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Beads (opaque black, yellow, green and brick red; clear blue and gold) threaded on natural silk threads. Lined in leather, bound at top with pale blue satin. Around the top RE / MEMBER / THE / POOR / 1631. Cords for hanging and draw strings, pear-shaped beaded drops, each with two small tassels, three pairs of tassels on bottom edge.

Notes

History note: Unknown before Miss Whitehurst

Legal notes

Given by Miss Whitehurst

Measurements and weight

Height: 5 in
Width: 5 in

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1836) by Whitehurst, Miss

Dating

1630s
Production date: dated AD 1631

Note

Label text from the exhibition ‘Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500–1800’, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum from 26 November 2019 until 31 August 2020: This colourful beadwork purse acted as a reminder of the importance of charity and a public expression of piety, clearly expressed by the 2019-12-04-s, ‘REMEMBER THE POORE’. Every time the owner dipped her gloved hand inside to remove a coin, she would see this instruction. England, 1631 Satin, leather lining, silk thread, cord and polychrome glass beads.

School or Style

English

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: RE / MEMBER / THE / POOR / 1631
  • Location: On exterior at top of beadwork
  • Method of creation: Embroidered
  • Type: Inscription

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: T.1-1836
Primary reference Number: 197524

Audit data

Created: Thursday 5 December 2013 Updated: Tuesday 25 November 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Purse" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/197524 Accessed: 2025-12-05 11:30:05

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/197524 |title=Purse |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 11:30:05|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-197524

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

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<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa36/T_1_1836_1_201702_kly25_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Purse"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Purse</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

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