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Mistress of the Purse

© Esmerelda Jones

We have always needed somewhere to put something. The carrying bag throughout all time has continued to be a necessary item of everyday use, changing only according to the wealth of its owner. But whether we sling a hemp sack over our back or finger our Italian leather wallets, we as people have a common bond for the old bag.

As we proceed through the wonderous ages we find animal skins and coarse woven cloth the most practical goods to sew up into various pouches, but as luxuries increased the rich saw fit to employ needleworking ladies in the making of silk purses. These were finely knit on steel and bone pins with initials and titles patterned into the design. Glass beads, bugles of gold and colored silks added to the sumptuousness of these glorious possessions. When cod-pieces were a standard fashion display, gentlemen deposited tiny knit cod-purses within this precious hold....a nice place to keep one's silver. How grateful we are for those centuries of wasteful extravagance, because now we can observe with envy the incredible ability of humans to make, with their own hands, pieces of art requiring a patience we find difficult to pursue.

Our Mistress of the Purse was the early-Victorian housekeeper. This upper class 'lady of the house' handed her duties over to a trusted woman who usually served the Mistress for life, but the ordinary 'housewife' commanded her own with little help affordable. Money did not abound and whatever was purchased had to be well respected. We think here of the old term 'under lock and key'. Even the tea caddy, often silver in wealthy homes, had a key. These imported leaves, a connoisseur's delight were costly, along with sugar. The Mistress wore a belt from which hung the heavy iron room keys and scissors. Beneath the layers of skirts (petticoats) were one or more secret little purses. These she knitted in strong silk or cotton with eyelets for the drawing cord. The cord could also be knitted up in the manner of bootlaces (which were done in black cotton). Within this pretty purse our Mistress kept her most private keys, some sewing needles, a few coins for a desperate occassion and one can imagine love letters perhaps, folded into a small square tied with silk ribbon.

These purses were frequently worked in a lace pattern. Other stitches were net, types of mesh and picot knots, sometimes combinations of knitting, crochet and netting completed the design. Worked in the round on 4 or 5 double-pointed sets of steel needes and thread, they often were never seen but my the Mistress herself. To reach for the purse, the lady could have a slash-opening on the right side of her outer skirts, making it a handy place to keep the pennies for market days.