Bag

Object Type
This panel was intended for a type of bag known as a reticule. Reticules, or 'indispensibles', were used in the early 19th century to carry such necessities for a woman as her purse, smelling salts and handkerchief. They were often made and decorated at home, and lightweight frames with silver or steel clasps and chain handles were available ready made, on to which panels could simply be stitched.

Ownership & Use
The practice of painting designs onto silk velvet was an outlet for the amateur artist, to create panels that she could then make into decorative objects or accessories, like purses, with her needle. She might compose the design herself, or buy it and copy it. The effect of the paint colours on the pile of the velvet gave the pattern a density and texture quite different from the crispness and delicacy of painted taffeta and satin popular from the later 18th century.