Month: December 2015

One fascination with vintage purses that we’ve had and one that many fellow collectors probably also share is imagining where these purses have traveled, what sights of the past they have witnessed, and whose arm they graced. Was she a bold flapper out on the town or a sophisticated lady attending the opera who chose that moderne accessory, the metal mesh purse?

It isn’t often that collectors have the privilege of knowing the identity of previous owners of purses in their collection. Imagine our delight in finding a special corner compact purse and then discovering that not only did the current owner work for Whiting & Davis in more recent years, but the original owner also worked for Whiting & Davis in the 1920’s!

Such was the case in 1996 when we went to Plainville, MA, home of Whiting & Davis, to visit friends and acquaintances we had met in 1991 when we participated in the Plainville Historical Commission’s exhibit “The History of Mesh in Plainville”. At that time our friend, Barb Fluck, then chairman of the Historical Commission, told us that Barbara Parmenter, another commission member, had decided to part with two mesh purses that she owned. We were excited to learn that one of the purses was a compact bag and the other was a child’s purse, two of our collecting specialties.

Only when we met with Barbara did we discover that the compact bag was the beautiful Art Deco corner compact bag (pictured above) and the child’s bag was an adorable miniature version of the Princess Mary purse (pictured below), another favorite of mesh purse collectors. At that time we were so excited that these purses had been offered to us that we did not have the presence of mind to ask Barbara for provenance.

On a recent trip to Plainville, 15 years after we purchased her purses, we met with Barbara again. This time we asked Barbara to draft a brief account of how she came to own the purses that we purchased from her in 1996. She graciously agreed, and the result, shown below, is Barbara’s letter of provenance and a photo of her Aunt Maida King, the original owner of the purses.

Maida King, circa 1928

Maida King started with Whiting and Davis in 1928 in the repair department. As was president Charles Whiting’s custom, he sometimes gave gifts of mesh purses to visiting celebrities and employees alike. Maida’s Aunt Louise was also a W&D employee and she too gave Maida mesh purses as gifts. Speculation is that Maida received the purses from one of these two sources. The corner compact purse sold for $43.50 at retail, a sizable sum in 1930. How happy she must have felt the day she received these beautiful purses, but certainly no happier than we feel today as the fortunate owners of her purses with an authenticated history.

Barbara Parmenter and Sherry Miller, 2011

Image 1003 – Mandalian standard flat mesh purse with a floral design and two cabochon glass stones and an enameled decoration on the frame, 5 x 7 ¾.

Mandalian mesh bags present their own set of mysteries. In fact, less information of any kind is available about Mandalian Mfg. and its owner, Sahatiel Mandalian. Although similar in many ways to Whiting & Davis bags, Mandalian mesh purses have an appeal all their own. In some ways the workmanship on Mandalian bags is superior to that of competitors. The metal used for making the Mandalian spiders is thicker, causing the legs to be less likely to come loose from the connecting rings. On some of the better bags the links under the hinges were even soldered together after the bag was assembled to prevent them from pulling apart, a common problem with less well made bags. From an aesthetic viewpoint, Mandalian painted designs are more Victorian looking with an emphasis on pattern florals. In some cases traditional Turkish rug designs reflect Mr. Mandalian’s heritage. Sahatiel Mandalian was granted two patents concerning flat mesh fabric and painting flat mesh. The patent applications were filed April 5, 1924, and June 24, 1924. His company was also recognized in publications of the era as originators of machine-made flat mesh. A patent assigned to Mandalian was filed in November 1912 for a flat mesh machine, some five months before the Whiting & Davis flat mesh machine patent was filed. Whether you favor Mandalian or Whiting & Davis bags, the fact remains that the Mandalian Mfg. Co. played an important role in the development of the mesh bag industry.

Image 8001 – Mandalian patent 1,546,346 filed April 5, 1924, issued July 14, 1925 – enameled armor mesh fabric and method of finishing same. Inventor Sahatiel G. Mandalian.

Image 1002 – Whiting & Davis (not marked) regular flat mesh purse with a swirl of colors painted on the mesh and a painted frame with an Art Deco geometric design, 5 ½ x 7 3/8.