Gaming purse

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A new level of card game mania swept Europe during the 17th century and continued into the 18th century. Gambling with cards or "gaming" was a favored pastime for both men and women of all ages and classes. Gaming purses, round flat-bottomed pouches that closed by means of a drawsting were worked in various materials. This examples is worked in fine petit point needlework. Its repeat pattern of pink flowers is interrupted only once by a single yellow flower. This anamoly may have personalized the bag, relating it to a particular owner.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art