Dresden Mesh Purse
date: label: Date
content: Early 20th century
notes: label: Caption
content: This Dresden mesh purse hails from the early twentieth century, when the invention of mesh-making machines dramatically increased daily link production. Recalling an impressionistic watercolor, enamel coats the purse’s fine ring metal mesh in hues of deep pink, green, and blue on a lighter pink background. Scallops serrate the bottom of the German-made bag. The purse’s golden metal hand chain hangs from a similarly-hued metal frame. An angular metal fastener embossed with scrollwork exemplifies the era’s Art Deco style. Pink silk lines the bag’s interior. The evening bag is one of two Dresden mesh purses (1997.0020.0003) in the Anacostia Community Museum’s collection. Both belonged to renowned scholar-librarian Dorothy Porter Wesley (1905-1995), who organized and developed an unparalleled collection rooted in African American history that would become the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University in Washington, DC.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anacostia Community Museum Collection
creditLine: label: Cite As
content: Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Anacostia Community Museum
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 1997.0020.0001
objectType: label: Type
content: metal mesh purse
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: enamel on metal mesh, metal, silk
label: Dimensions
content: 11 × 5 1/4 × 3/8 in. (28 × 13.3 × 0.9 cm)