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.