PURSE

An incomplete cast copper alloy purse frame dating from the early Post-medieval period. The yoke-shaped bar of the frame is 62 mm in length, 32.5 mm in height, 9 mm in thickness and 27.45 g in weight. The central attachment block is 9 mm square and 9.5 mm high. The rotating shaft of the suspension loop passes through a central hole in the block but is now immovably corroded to it. The external profile of the loop is trapezoidal, 19.5 mm wide at the top, 12.5 mm at the base and 12.5 mm in height, with a rectangular central hole 12 mm wide and 3.5 mm high. Two side bars extend from the central block, each 26.5 mm long, tapering to a thickness of 5 mm at 13 mm from the centre where there is an abrupt shoulder 5 mm wide and 8.5 mm in height, followed by a knopped terminal that is circular in section and 4.6 mm in diameter. The two shoulders, and the junctions with the central block, are decorated on both sides and the top with pairs of deep, vertical grooves, alternating with raised ribs or lipped projections. Below each of the side arms is a row of four broken oval projections which would originally have held attachments to the fabric of the purse. The surface of the frame is coated with a smooth dark green patina with no trace of any enamel or gilding. The purse-bar is of a type common in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries but its complex design places it amongst later examples, dating from 1500 to 1550.

Williams (2018) illustrates a similar yoke-shaped bar with a rectangular loop and lipped projections, recorded in SWYOR-CE33E6, on p.5, fig.7 which he classes as Class B and dates from the 16th century.

Bailey (1993) illustrates similar purse frames on pp.6-7, nos.15 & 32 which are dated from the 16th century.