Canvaswork purse or pocketbook

Canvaswork purse or pocketbook

An envelope-style purse or pocketbook with four inner pockets. The outside is a coarse linen worked in a large and small diamond design with silk thread. There is a dark brown or black cross outline and shades of tan, yellow, blue, green, and white inside the diamonds (may once have been pink, rose, several shades of blue, etc.). The stitches appear to be straight up-and-down, apparently one of the Florentine patterns. The binding on the body and pockets is narrow green silk ribbon. The same shade of green silk is used for the inner lining and pockets, with tops and flaps scalloped in points. At the front top, just under fold-over, the linen has been left unworked except for the cross-stitched marking "Fanny Bliss 1786." The purse has a narrow silk tape tie.

length: 5in
width: 5 1/2in

Silk (textile)
Linen (material)

Frances Bliss (1772-1833)

1786

Springfield (Massachusetts)