Description
From my personal collection and used with care for decades! This exotic, compact leather bag belonged to my grandmother, and she told me it was from the 1940s. I wonder if the styling is not more distinctively 1950s. Could be late ’40s, when my grandmother would have been in her late 20s. If there was a maker tag, I never saw one in all the decades I have owned it and it is missing.
Structurally the two-compartment handbag is sound, and it is in good condition. There is a little edge wear. The front black enamel spring clasp works perfectly. The interior pocket is lined with gold fabric, and the zipper works and has its chain/ring pull intact. The second interior pocket has a brass top edge. The fabric opposite the clasp, on the interior flap, is frayed and one hardware prong is showing (see photo).
NOTES: It can be difficult to distinguish genuine ostrich leather from embossed leather with an ostrich print. This bag has the characteristic unique texture with raised irregular quill follicles that have pores at the top. Embossed versions, especially early ones, have a flat, more regular appearance and lack the three-dimensionality of the real deal. Follicle density varies. Many people list “genuine” ostrich items on eBay and other sites, but their certainty should be met with skepticism in many cases.
I can gauge authenticity by three things: 1) ostrich leather was popular in the mid-20th century due to its association with high fashion luxury, 2) embossed ostrich leather was not commonly used until the material was more popular and in wider use in fashion in the 1970s (it became popular for cowboy boots), and 3) my grandmother’s words, which were that it is genuine and it was a gift from my grandfather — she said 1940s, and she had no reason to misstate this.
