From Reticule to Ralph Lauren

Tooled leather purchased where else but Kingman,Arizona

Down through the ages,the woman of the household was usually the shopper. In very early times it was a daily task since there was no refrigeration. Today it is a necessity, but also a pastime(in my case). Now if you shop you need to have a receptacle to safely carry your money.
The first such item was simply a small drawstring bag that could carried in the folds of the voluminous skirts or petticoats that were the fashion of the day.But as in many other basically utilitarian items of daily use, women began to decorate the so called bags with needlepoint and beads.  These early bags were called reticules.Beaded,needlepointed, encrusted in seed pearls,these reticules began to appear with hinged frames and handles for the most part,making them easier to carry and to display to other envious women.It is said that certain artists would leave their identification on the beaded bag by placing a  bead in the design that was a different color than it's surrounding design,appearing to be a flaw.
Today our bags, ladies, are still an important fashion statement and have evolved into veritable suitcases,carrying all the necessities of life. Need I mention,Dooney and Bourke,Prada,Gucci,Louis Vouton and of course Ralph Lauren...all displayed to impress. I recently was compelled to empty my purse in a restaurant the other day and was amazed at what I was actually carrying around...dental floss,church program,multiple register receipts,Bible,nail file, and of course you never know when you may need a crystal prism.

beaded purse with maker's mark,note dark wine bead at tip of orange floral center

note wine colored bead that appears to be a flaw

purse shown on opposite side without the wine colored bead

seed pearl purse with makers mark in the form of a whiter pearl near frame

white pearl shows better when flash not used

glass bead reticule

a later glass beaded reticule with beaded handles instead of drawstring

this is a beautiful iredescent blue bead bag,fringe was removed because it was in a very bad state

silver mesh reticule

seed pearl with nicely decorated clasp

clasp on above seed pearl purse

more intricately beaded seed pearl purses

needlepoint purse

this one is needlepointed on both sides

for some reason this is my favorite