Purse of Abraham Cohen

In eighteenth-century America, it was fashionable for both women and men to carry their valuables in purses in the shape of an envelope. Men's purses usually had two inner compartments on each side (as in this example), where they could store their correspondence or important documents as well as snuff or toothpicks, while those used by women usually had a foldover flap and only one compartment, where mirrors, combs, smelling salts, and other trifles were kept. Frequently worked on canvas, these purses were often embroidered with vivid colors and lined with colorful materials, contrasting with the solid colors used in clothing.
In Colonial and Federal America, where upper-class women were expected to count needlework among their accomplishments, an embroidered purse was an appropriate gift from a lady to her fiancé or husband. A typical design was the flame-stitch, later known as bargello or Florentine stitch, consisting of shaded zigzag patterns in colored yarns. The fine petit-point embroidery with floral motifs of this purse, however, is rare. A second purse, probably made in New England and thought to date to the 1760s, is today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection. Probably a woman's purse, embroidered in vivid colors, the design features a carnation that is similar to the central white-and-blue flower in The Jewish Museum purse. As seen in most extant examples, the design on the outside of the purse is aligned in two directions, so that when the purse is closed, the pattern faces the same way on front and back.
Occasionally, embroidered purses bore the owner's name and date, as seen in this example. According to family records, Abraham Cohen, whose name is inscribed on the purse, contributed funds to support the American Revolutionary War effort. As the purse was acquired in the area of Philadelphia, where it had been passed down the family for generations, it is likely that Abraham Cohen lived in that city, home to one of the oldest Jewish congregations in America, or in the area of Lancaster, where Jewish settlement is documented as early as 1715. Although no Abraham Cohen seems to be recorded in Lancaster around the 1760s, three men by that name were living in Philadelphia at the time.
Jewish communal life in Philadelphia may be dated from 1740, when a Jewish cemetery was established, and the Mikveh Israel synagogue building was dedicated in 1782. Given the 1766 date on the purse, the most likely owner would have been Abraham Eliezer Cohen. In the Mikveh Israel minutes for March 30, 1783, Abraham E. Cohen is mentioned as the new shamash, or beadle, for the synagogue. The duties of the shamash included: "to keep the shull [synagogue] and everything belonging to it clean and in good order, he is to make all the candles -- light them when they are wanted, and see them properly out. He is to attend whenever there is prayers, and see the shull secured afterwards.... He is to attend all circumcisions, weddings and funerals."
Records for the Jewish cemetery of Philadelphia, as reported by Ruth Hoffman of Congregation Mikveh Israel, date Abraham Eliezer Cohen's death to 1786 and mention his gravesite, but no tombstone has been found.