Little bag with gold and silver wire embroidery

Who is able to tell me from when and where to find similar little bags ? Would like to know more about it . Thanks

 

Victorian and quite nice. Great condition.

 

Yes looks very nice but any idea about the decoration ? like the symbols on the strap ?

 

The design on the strap seems to be a pretty standard Greek Key design - unless I am missing something.

 

Is that type of embroidery on the front called "couched"?

 

No idea

 

I would call it "gold work", myself ... and couching is one of the techniques used in creating gold work embroidery.

here's snippet from a needlework site:


Surface Couching

To Work Surface Couching - Lay down the thread to be couched, and with another thread catch it down with small stitches worked over the top.


Underside Couching

To Work Underside Couching - In the embroidery technique of underside couching, thread (usually gold) is laid on the surface of the ground fabric, couching threads are then passed over it. As each couching stitch is worked over the gold thread, the needle is carefully re-inserted into the hole in the backing fabric that the needle created on the way out. The couching thread is pulled tight and a tiny loop of the gold thread from the surface drops through the hole in the backing fabric to the underside (thus giving the technique its name).

This creates a hinge in the gold thread, allowing the fabric to bend and giving it a great flexibility. Fabric worked with gold thread in underside couching has much more drape than fabric with surface couched gold, thus making it a much better technique for working objects which will be worn, such as ecclesiastical vestments.

 

Actually, while "couched" was the word that came to mind, it was not the technique of which I was thinking. I should have said "stumpwork", where the embroidery is raised. Maybe a bit of both here?

 

"stumpwork" ... hmmmm, that's a new one for me ... had to google it ... interesting stuff. That term seems to be used to describe to cover a wide range of styles of raised embroidery ... including some that look like the OP's piece. I would probably still call it goldwork embroidery on velvet, though.