Vintage Bienen-Davis Black Satin Purse with Wrist Strap and Tag, ca. 1940s

Description: A vintage Bienen-Davis purse with tags in its box offered by Snowdrift Antiques. This is a vintage purse made by New York high end purse designers and manufacturers Bienen-Davis (B-D). B-D was founded in 1931 in New York City. The company “merged American design with Italian craftsmanship” and soon found their bags on the sets of movies and televisions shows, worn by some of Hollywood’s most iconic stars, and included in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They are still in business today and still popular in Hollywood and around the world. This Bienen-Davis bag comes in its original box and has its original hang tag. Its box identifies it as Model 700 in Black Satin. This elegant piece is carried by a very stylish wrist strap that is attached to one side of the purse. All of the metal hardware is covered by satin except for the very visible gold tone clasp on top in the form a what appears to be a woman in a seashell surrounded by waves. The interior is a light pink acetate taffeta. It bears the B-D mark. There is a small slit pocket that provides a small, square mirror, still in its pink taffeta carrying case and wrapped in its original tissue paper. The mirror is two-sided but does have some silvering. Its primary contribution is its originality to the purse. Inside the main purse compartment, you will find a small pink, trimmed in black, coin purse with a snap closure. It is charmingly connected to the main purse interior with black cord, to prevent it from being dropped and lost. The entire ensemble is beautifully vintage and replete with style. This purse measures about 9 inches wide across the base and tapers up to about 5 ½ inches wide across the top. It is about 5 inches deep, top to bottom. The wrist strap measures 5 inches from attachment to end. The date this purse was made has been elusive. We cannot be certain of its age, since I cannot find another example of, or any information about, the B-D Model 700. It did have a 1938 penny inside, whose significance in dating the purse is undetermined. If I had to make a guess based on the look, the penny and the wrist strap, I would say this purse is probably from about the early to mid-1940s. This purse is in excellent vintage condition. I believe this purse looks pretty much as it did the day it was made. It is clean and without wear. There are no rips, tears, stains or frays anywhere on it. It is truly remarkable. It still has its B-D hang tag, leading me to wonder if it was ever carried. The change purse is in excellent condition and attached. The mirror, as mentioned, is very silvered and at this point mostly obsolete. This is a cool beyond cool purse from one of the renowned purse designers in the world. It is ready to come out of hibernation and back into circulation.

Price: 175 USD

Location: Denver, Colorado

End Time: 2024-02-03T00:50:20.000Z

Shipping Cost: 2 USD