18th Century Pocketbooks
Last updated: Feb 25, 2024
Flame stitch (aka bargello, Irish stitch)
Winterthur 1958.1759 is classified as a sampler, but it looks like an incomplete & abandoned pocketbook project; the embroiderer has stitched the date band at the top, and started by embroidering the black outlines of the overall pattern before beginning to fill in the open space, before giving up and stitching an alphabet into the empty leftover space.
- Skinner Auction 3417T, Lot 2102, a flamestitched wallet, America, 18th century, “stitched in shades of yellow, red, green, and blue in a bold flame pattern, each side with two compartments lined in green linen”
- Cooper Hewitt 1954-100-1
- Cooper Hewitt 1960-54-1
- Cooper Hewitt 1960-153-5
- Cooper Hewitt 1967-53-1
- Skinner Auctions 3278M, Lot 129, a small flame-stitch wallet
- Skinner Auctions 3360T, Lot 85, a flame-stitch pocketbook with a zig-zag pattern
- MFA 41.661, New England
- Winterthur 1978.0181, North America
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.10 (“ELIZABETH FITZ”)
- Pocketbook (“Nathan Somerby his”)
- P4A D9791326, America
- P4A D9808326 (“Moses Hale”), Pennsylvania, c. 1725-1789
- Historic New England 1991.1417, c. 1740-1790
- Winterthur 1961.1356 (“Ephraim Pierce”), c. 1740-1790
- Winterthur 2002.0001.003, North America, c. 1740-1790
- Winterthur 1958.1584 (“A”), North America, c. 1740-1790
- Winterthur 1956.0038.130 (“NATHANIEL • BOND”), North America, c. 1740-1790
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-18, America, mid-18th century
- RISD 56.137.63, American, c. 1750
- Skinner Auction 2669M, Lot 24 (“Joseph Winslow”), Massachusetts, c. 1750
- Winterthur 1963.0085 (“ELINOR BROWN 1753”), Delaware
- Pocketbook, England, 1757
- MFA 41.251, New England, 1750-1800
- MFA 41.779, New England, 1750-1800
- MFA 42.645, New England, 1750-1800
- MFA 44.688, Rhode Island, 1750-1800
- MFA 51.1990, New England, 1750-1800
- Skinner Auction 2295, Lot 6, America, mid to late 18th century
- Historic New England 1991.1418 (“SAMUEL ELLIOT”), made by by Mrs. Rebecca Cones for her brother, Samuel Elliot, c. 1750-1800
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.3, c. 1750-1800
- P4A C249476, America, c. 1750-1800
- Historic New England 1946.288 (“SL”), c. 1751-1799
- Historic New England 1917.191 (“E S”), c. 1751-1799
- Man’s flamepoint wallet, England, initialed “S.M.” and dated 1757
- Winterthur 1961.1623 (“RG 1759”), America
- Conestoga Auction Feb 27 2021, Lot 1 (“MG 1759”)
- LACMA M.79.29 made by Elizabeth Parker (“EP / 1763”) (front)
- Smithsonian Textile Collection (“HP 1763”)
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1933-47-4 (“George Gray 1760”), Philadelphia
- Pocketbook from a New Hampshire family (“BR”), c. 1760
- Winterthur 1970.0237 (“H M / 1760”), Chester, Pennsylvania
- Antiques Roadshow: a flame stitch wallet, with a black woman with a teapot and a black man with a tray, probably made in Massachusetts c. 1760-1780
- Winterthur 1958.1752 (“M W”), North America, c. 1760-1785
- DAR 746, (“LOVISA◇AYAR”), 1760-1790
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.27, c. 1760-1800; features four scalloped leaves of dark olive green wool with napped surface which hold pins and needles
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.26 (“E.P.”), c. 1760-1800
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.14 (“ANN • DAVIS • 1762”), Massachusetts
- Chester County History Center NP6 (“Iesse_ / Zane 1762”)
- Chester County History Center NP4 (“William Parker 1762”)
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-21, America, 1762
- Skinner Auction 3417T, Lot 2099, “stitched in shades of yellow, green, and brown, with divided interior lined in pink linen”
- Skinner Auction 2640B, Lot 58 (“GILES • RVSSELL • 1763 • A • E ”)
- Skinner Auction 3500T, Lot 1121 (“DR / 1763”)
- Skinner Auction 2482, Lot 565 (“MARY • STORRS • May 1764”), America
- Winterthur 1968.0162 (“IAMES • GRAHAM AGED 16 1765”), New York
- Davies Apr 14 2022, Lot 303, an 18th century flame stitch purse (note indicating it was made for J.M. Bruton in 1765)
- LACMA M.79.253.28 (“Abigail Alden”), America, 1765
- MFA 37.1175, New England, c. 1766
- Skinner Auction 2922M, Lot 14 (“Ieremiah • Pearson • 1766 •”), possibly Newbury, Massachusetts
- Winterthur 1993.0045 (“Iane • Eakin • her book 1766”), New Castle, Delaware
- P4A D9789534 (“David Stephen 1768”), America
- Chester County History Center NP10 (“I I / 1768”)
- Skinner Auctions 3360T, Lot 84 (“WG1769”) with a diamond and cross pattern
- Chester County History Center NP15 (“MG / 1770”) with a diamond and cross pattern
- Winterthur 1958.2232 (“PETER • S • 1770”), America
- DAR 3632, made by Elizabeth Lord Eliot of Lyme, Connecticut, c. 1770
- Winterthur 1978.0182 (“SARAH • MERRITT • 1770 / DANIEL • MERRITT • 1770”), North America
- Winterthur 1978.0186 (“R R 1770”), North America
- Winterthur 1955.0082 (“WHEN THIS YOU SE REMEMBER ME M HOLDER SLOCU HIS POCKETBOOK 1770”), made by Abigail Slocum, Bristol, Massachusetts
- Colonial Williamsburg 1991-493, c. 1770-1815
- P4A D9713435 (“ELIZABETH BALDWIN” and “HB” and “1771”)
- Colonial Williamsburg 1950-268 (“Seth Drew / 1771”); see also Colonial Williamsburg 1950-268
- Skinner Auction 2494, Lot 18 (“TIMOTHY MANN 1771”), Massachusetts
- DAR 745, unfinished fragment of a flamestitched pocketbook, dated 1773
- DAR 961 (“RICHARD ALSOP 1773 M.A”), Connecticut
- Pocketbook (“WILLIAM • KINGSLY • 1773”), Connecticut
- DAR 961, pocketbook made by Mary Wright Alsop for her husband (“RICHARD ALSOP 1773 M.A”), Connecticut
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-24 (“JOSEPH S(?) 1773”), United States
- Thomaston Place Auction Galleries Nov 11 2023, Lot 2070 (“ MOODY x MORSE / HIS BOOK 1773”), pocketbook of a Minuteman from Newbury, Massachusetts, “having gusseted expanding sides and four pink cotton partitions. 9 1/2" x 8" opened flat”
- Chester County History Center NP17 (“R ⚬ B / 17 74”)
- Monmouth County Historical Association 301 (“Mary Polhemus 1774”)
- Chester County History Center NP18 (“R D / 1774”)
- Skinner Auction 3417T, Lot 2098 (“ANN MARSHALL ❖ 1774”), “stitched in shades of red, blue, yellow, and green in a diamond geometric pattern, name embroidered below the flap, two internal compartments lined with pink linen”
- Wallet owned by Caspar Yeakel, 1774, Hereford, Berks County (“CASPER 1774 / IAECKEL 1774”
- Embroidered pocketbook owned by Harvard undergraduate Fisher Ames (“Fisher Ames 1774”)
- Skinner Auction 2786B, Lot 31 (“Iohn Stevens junr. November 19 • 1774”), possibly Perth Amboy, New Jersey
- A flamestitch wallet, c. 1775, in Fitting & Proper; “A wallet worked in multicolor flamestitch on linen anvas, lined with olive green linen and bound with green wool twill tape”
- P4A D9736574 (“Joseph Davis 1775”), Pennsylvania
- Winterthur 1976.0177 (“JOHN SMEDLEY 1775”), Chester, Pennsyvlania
- Winterthur 1958.2730 (“Iohn Williamson 1775”), America
- P4A D9721192 (“JOHN • PAW • LING • 1775”), Pennsylvania
- DAR 2017.7 (“AMERICA • LIBERTY / I-ИEEDHAM”), Massachusetts, 1775-1781
- A flame stitch pocketbook once owned by Joseph Robinson of Bridgewater, Massachusetts; “This is made of worsted thread over unbleached linen & bound in olive green worsted twill tape. It’s currently on display at the North Bridge Visitor Center at Minute Man National Historic Site.”
- DAR 75.192, Pennsylvania, 1750-1790
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-19, America, mid-late 18th century
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-23, America, mid-late 18th century
- LACMA M.83.216.63, Captain John Jones, c. 1775-1785
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.11 (“H.C.”), c. 1775-1800
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.12 (“E.S.”), c. 1775-1800
- Met 1980.592.1, Britain, 1775-1800
- Met 2009.300.1835 (made by Deborah Hill for Grandmother Schenck), fourth quarter of the 18th century
- Skinner Auction 2460, Lot 487, a pair of canvaswork wallets, one in a diamond-variation pattern and the other in a zig-zag pattern, America, late 18th century
- Skinner Auction 2667T, Lot 708, double folding pocketbook in a zigzag diamond pattern, America, late 18th century
- Skinner Auction 3500T, Lot 1020, zigzag pattern, probably New England, late 18th century
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.2, late 18th century
- Flamestitch wallet in Fitting & Proper (“Thomas Mercier / 17 / 76”); “A wallet worked in multicolor flamestitch on linen canvas, lined with brown linen and bound with red wool twill tape”
- Winterthur 1958.1523 (“SAMUEL + EARL 1777”), North America
- Winterthur 1965.2087 (“ENOCH • LONG / MARCH • 25 • 1777”), North America
- MFA 53.2287 (“WILLIAMS” “CUSHINGS 1779”), New England
- Brunk Auctions 5 Dec 2020, Lot 593, New England, c. 1780; stylized carnation pattern with green linen lining and edged with blue silk tape. Also Lot 594, a man’s pocket wallet lined in green wool and edged in green wool tape.
- MFA 47.1019, New England, 1780
- P4A A076993, belonging to Caleb Haines, Pennsylvania, c. 1780-1790
- Winterthur 1961.0506 (“Samuel + Bettle / 1782”), America”
- Winterthur 1965.2086 (“17 • H • L • 84”), which probably belonged to Hope Lippincott, America
- MFA 42.163, Providence, before 1786
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-22, America, 1786
- MFA 1976.663 (“NOVEMBER 3 1787”), New England
- Russum’s Furniture Auctioneers Oct 9 2022, Lot 591, flamestitched pocketbook dated 1789 with engraved silver catch, Pensylvania
- Skinner Auction 2255, Lot 204 (“BEN / IAMIN / PEIR / CE” and “17 / 90”), America
- Met 2009.300.1782, c. 1790-1810
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1909-109, America, 1792
- Skinner Auction 3500T, Lot 1122, New England (“Adam Churnſide / His Pocket Book 1792”)
- MFA 41.660 (“THIS WAS WROUGHT BY ME RUTH TWITCHELL : IN THE YEAR 1793 &TC :”), New England
- Skinner Auction 2669M, Lot 25 (“William B. Property 1794”)
- Bruneau & Co. Sept 22 2018, Lot 353, American flamestitched pocketbook, New England, c. 1795
- P4A D9807956 (“EBENR. WARD”), Salem, Massachusetts
- 18th century flame stitch wallet, with several good detail photos
- Skinner Auction 2918T, Lot 1396, a flame-stitch pocketbook with a zig-zag pattern, probably New England, 18th century
- Skinner Auction 2918T, Lot 1535, a flame-stitch pocketbook, 18th/19th century
- Skinner Auction 3417T, Lot 2305, a needlecase fashioned from a flamestitched pocketbook (“ELIZABETH BURNS / HER POCKET BOOK”)
- Colonial Williamsburg 2006-155,1 (“D A” … “M A / 1807”), possibly made in Richmond, Virginia
Crewelwork pocketbooks
- P4A B193571 (“ZS”), America, c. 1740-1790
- SPNEA 1991.1419, c. 1740-1790
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.13 (“B.S. 1762” and “Set the seal upon my heart/Ecclesia, John XI”), crewel embroidery with floral motifs and inscribed scrolls
- A c. 1750 pocketbook
- Massachusetts Historical Society 0002, pocketbook belonging to Benjamin Stuart, 1753; “The pocketbook features a brightly hued pastoral view with vining flowers, bird, and goats. Several large blossoms catch the eye. The wool thread is worked on a very basic homespun plain-weave linen substrate. The wool threads have remained vivid, as has the dazzling yellow-gold Chinese silk lining.” (“FOR BEИIAMIИ 1753 STVART”)
- DAR 2279, used by John Orr in New Hampshire, 1750-1780
- Skinner Auction 3500T, Lot 1123, floral embroidery (“AMOS COLE”)
- MFA 35.726, Roumanian embroidery (“L.H.” [possibly Lemuel Hayward] “1768”), Boston
- Skinner Auction 2255, Lot 203, a crewelwork fish-scale design
- P4A A066252, a crewelwork fish-scale design
Other canvaswork pocketbooks, including cross stitch and/or tent stitch
- MFA 64.2019, tent stitch, New England, 1725-1775
- Winterthur 1953.0060, rice stitch, North America, c. 1725-1800
- P4A A066589, tent stitch, made by Mercy Waterman (initials “MW” appear in two places), with depiction of the Newport Colony House, Rhode Island, c. 1727-1811
- Brunk Auction Nov 10 2012, Lot 401, 18th century pocketbook in diamond-patterned wool canvaswork
- Pocketbook, tent stitch and reverse tent stitch and cross stitch, Philadelphia (?), c. 1740-1790
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.28, cross stitch, made by Mary Gardner (“M.G. 1755”), Massachusetts
- Skinner Auction 3360T, Lot 83 (“IOSHUA STODDARD”), tent stitch, made for Captain Joshua Stoddard c. 1760, probably Connecticut
- Skinner Auction 2669M, Lot 26 (“MxB 1768”), brick stitch, probably New England
- Old Sturbridge Village 64.7.29, cross stitch figures on a tent stitch background, c. 1780-1790
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 2002-209-8, tent stitch, America, 1765
- Winterthur 1978.0123 (“Iohn Greir / May The 8 1778”), cross stitch, made by Jane Grier of Norristown, Pennsylvania
- Pocketbook, tent stitch, c. 1790
Queen stitch/rococo stitch on pocketbooks
- Winterthur 1955.0003.009, embroidered by Mary Wright Alsop of Middletown, Connecticut, in 1758
- DAR 3657, made in New York c. 1770-1810
- Winterthur 1955.0003.004 (“Mary • Alsop • 1774”), Middletown, Connecticut
- MFA 40.572, unfinished pocketbook, America, late 18th century
- Met 2009.300.1744, with a pattern of strawberries within diamonds, America, fourth quarter of the 18th century
- National Museum of American History 115408, “Embroidered card case made in England circa 1780, using silk queen stitch embroidery in a diamond strawberry pattern on linen canvas”
- Monmouth County Historical Association 304, a silk-embroidered pocketbook with a pattern of strawberries in diamonds (“HANNAH CRAWFORD / 1785”)
- Skinner Auction 2922M, Lot 13, a needlework pocketbook and pincushion embroidered with strawberries on a green background, America, late 18th century
- DAR 5257, an unfinished queen-stitched fragment probably intended for a pocketbook, attributed to Easther Chambers in 1791
- Winterthur 1964.0811 (“Henry Row 1794”), United States
- MFA 30.115, with initials 'AR' and 'SA', 18th-19th century
- MFA 29.1036, an embroidery fragment with strawberries and zig-zags, roughly the shape of a pocketbook, America, 18th-19th century
- Smithsonian Textile Collection (”Alexander Alexad”) stitched by Maria Connor Alexander
- DAR 87.84 (“SAMUEL NIXON 1800”), North Carolina
Sablé beadwork pocketbooks
- MFA 43.2343, France, c. 1715
- MFA 43.2341, France, 1715-1790
- MFA 43.2345, France, 1725-1775
- MFA 43.2344, France, 1725-1775
Painted pocketbooks
- V&A 1937-1899, embroidered silk pocketbook with watercolor-painted oval silk panels, France, c. 1750
- V&A T.143-1961, cream silk painted with Dutch-inspired landscapes in a grisaille technique, France, 1750s
- Cooper Hewitt 1923-22-79, painted wilk pocketbook made in France
- NMAH T14911.000, an uncut embroidered panel for a pocketbook with a painted vignette on a central medallion, France
- MFA 43.1117, white silk embroidered in silk, with painted details, France or England, 1780-1800
- Cooper Hewitt 1962-56-26-b, an unfinished painted silk panel for a pocketbook, late 18th century France
Other styles
- Manchester 1929.306, France; “Woven in blue silk and silver thread. Pattern coventional Renaissance ornament.” (Compare to Cooper Hewitt 1962-55-6, 1962-55-7, 1962-55-8, 1962-55-10, 1962-55-11, all from the 17th century)
- Massachusetts Historical Society 1966, a pocketbook belonging to a member of the Hale family, silk fabric embroidered with sprigs in silk thread
- Cooper Hewitt 1931-41-6, “Pocketbook with metal thread embroidery on green damask ground … embroidered in padded couching stitches”
- Cooper Hewitt 1971-50-112, made in France or Spain; “White silk plain weave embroidered with flower and leaf design. Bag edged with woven silk and flat metal tape.”
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 1930-30-26, embroidery on wool damask, United States, 18th century
- MFA 43.1110, tapestry-woven design with angels flanking arms of Pope Benedict XIII, Italy, 1724-1730
- MFA 43.1112, silk with fruit and floral design in satin stitch and laid & couched work in silk threads , France or England, 1725-1775
- Winterthur 1958.2052, North America, c. 1740-1780
- V&A CIRC.238-1926, silk embroidered with floral designs in colored silks, Britain, c. 1750-1775
- Colonial Williamsburg 1990-3, embroidered with colored silks, silver gilt threads, bullion, and plate, made in Constantinople in 1749
- MFA 43.1118, silk embroidered with silk and metallic threads in a floral design, made in Constantinople for the European market, 1755
- P4A D9791252 (“LG”), floral design, Philadelphia, c. 1760
- Crazy-quilt pocketbook, c. 1760
- Colonial Williamsburg 1952-341, pocketbook with gold clasp, fitted with implements, made in England, c. 1760-1780; “Envelope pocketbook of ivory silk satin quilted with chain stitches in a diamond pattern with meandering vines across top and bottom folds. Pocketbook is fastened with gold, stone, and enamel clasps on the outside and on the interior shaped flap. The exterior clasp has three clear stones; the interior clasp had male and female profile heads in classical manner. The interior is lined with carnation pink silk, plain-woven. Two interior compartments, one with shaped flap and clasp. A gusseted compartment has slots for holding an ivory tablet consisting of two pivoting leaves, a comb, a lead holder with gold cap and coral-colored stone seal end, and two knives.”
- MFA 43.1114, taffeta embroidered with a love-poem in silk, France, 1775-1800
- MFA 43.1116, white silk satin with silk and metal-thread embroidery, inscribed “SOU / VENIR,” France or England, 1775-1800
- Meg Andrews 6557, a French pocketbook belonging to Mary Hope Wallace, 1780s; “front with silver clasp chased with a fleur de lys, the ground very finely tapestry woven with a Chinese style pagoda and buildings to one side of the clasp, a tree to the other, the background in gold basketweave effect, the back with a bridge, river and trees, the narrow base with two silver coloured studs and a woven geometric pattern, the inside opens to reveal silk satin lining, the note book of thick hand made paper sheets edged with gold, many with pencilled hand written English, the front page with Rue St Anne, No 78 Paris. The inner pages have a poem and more writing, some in French, a pocket behind the paper”
- Cooper Hewitt 1938-5-1, “Pocketbook of cream-colored silk taffeta embroidered with verse and flowering vine in pink, green and tan silk”
- MFA 43.1115, white silk embroidered in silk, France, 1780-1795
- Needlework pocketbook made by Queen Charlotte, satin embroidered in silk with gold (or gilt?) sequins and an enamelled gold clasp, lined in silk and containing tools (originally given to Mrs. Delany in 1781 with “knife, sizsars, pencle, rule, compass, bodkin”)
- MFA 43.1113, blue silk with appliquéd embroidered medallions, France, late 18th century
- Manchester 1929.305, France; “Woven in silver and gold thread and coloured silks. Pattern; flowers, scrollwork and moths.”
- RISD 1988.082.12, French, late 18th century