Pocketbook

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Pocketbook
Datec. 1750–1800
Made inUnited States
MediumWool and linen
Dimensions(Closed): 4 1/2 × 7 3/8 in. (11.4 × 18.7 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.244
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Description

In the eighteenth century, both men and women carried accessories in their pockets that were designed to hold personal papers and currency. Many were decorated with counted thread needlework. The ground fabric, generically known as canvas, was frequently embroidered in colored wool yarn. 

Technical notes and description: Wool yarn; tabby-weave wool lining; wool binding and ties; linen canvas. The canvas ground of this rectangular single envelope pocketbook with two inner compartments is covered by Irish stitching in a blunted sawtooth pattern in red, green, navy, and mustard yarns. The lining is made of bright pink, glazed, worsted wool, and the unit is bound and tied with pink and green twill tapes. 

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenanceMiss Ima Hogg; given to MFAH, 1969.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Pocketbook
c. 1750–1800
Wool, linen, silk, and buckram
B.69.211
Pocketbook
1773
Wool and linen
B.69.133
Pocketbook
c. 1770–1800
Wool and linen
B.69.155
Wholecloth Quilt
c. 1780–1840
Wool
B.56.52
Wholecloth Quilt
c. 1760–1840
Wool
B.76.70
Framed Medallion Piecework Quilt
c. 1790–1820
Cotton, linen, and wool
B.79.229
Flight into Egypt
Mary Ann (Tipple) Crocheron
1861
Linen and wool
B.91.20
David Playing before Saul
Mary Ann (Tipple) Crocheron
1852
Linen and wool
B.91.21
Double-weave Coverlet
1831
Cotton and wool, Jacquard-loom-woven
B.76.35
Wholecloth Quilt
c. 1760–1840
Wool and linen
B.76.71
Suit
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel
1960–1965
Wool, polyester shantung, silk charmeuse, and metal
99.610.A-.C
Double-weave Coverlet
Ira Hadsell
1851
Cotton and wool, Jacquard-loom-woven
B.76.36