Purse of gold mesh chainmail with ring gate top that has accordion opening
- Title
- Purse of gold mesh chainmail with ring gate top that has accordion opening
- LC Subject
- handbags
- Donor
- Herron family
- Designer
- Whiting & Davis Company, Inc.
- Description
- Purse of gold mesh chainmail with ring gate top that has accordion opening; short gold chain handle; top ring has attached gold lid closes over the ring when its fully closed; lined in orange woven rayon.
- Motif
- Mesh
- Work Type
- purses (ladies' accessories)
- Location
- United States
- Date
- 1930/1939
- Identifier
- 1986.007.008
- Rights
- In Copyright
- License
- Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
- Type
- Image
- Format
- image/tiff
- Material
- Chainmail Metal
- Technique
- Accordion gate top Chainmail Beggar's pouch
- Set
- Historic and Cultural Textile and Apparel Collection
- Primary Set
- Historic and Cultural Textile and Apparel Collection
- Institution
- Oregon State University
- Note
- Manufactured by Whiting & Davis Co. est. 1876. The mesh bags were made between 1896 and 1935. In 1880, Charles Whiting worked for 9 cents an hour for the company that would later become Whiting & Davis. In 1892, Whiting wove by hand the first mesh bag, utilizing the technique of chainmail. By 1896 he became a partner in the company. The handmade metal mesh bags gained enormous popularity and the company reached out to an inventor to create a machine to make the bags. By 1912 the machines could do the cutting, splitting, and joining, all tasks formerly performed by hand. By 1920 the company had 500 machines that worked so efficiently that no other company could compete. This style with the accordion gate top was popular from 1927 to the early 1930s.