Wedding Purse

Artist/Maker
Spach, Gertrude (possibly)
Place Made
Salem North Carolina United States of America
Date Made
1829
Medium
silk –ribbon –chenille –crepe –cardboard
Dimensions
LOA 7 3/4; WOA 7 3/4
Accession Number
P-352
Description
A wedding purse made of white silk with a floral wreath design on either side, embroidered with silk, crepe and ribbon. Purse closes with flap decorated with silk ribbon; all seams on outside are finished with piping. Having “G. Spach” embroidered on one side and “Salem, NC” on the other, this embroidered purse was carried by Gertrude Spach (1802-1830) on her wedding day. Gertrude became a teacher in the Girls’ Boarding School in 1827, but left to marry Johann Salomo Mickey two years later, in 1829.
History
This purse was carried by Gertrude Spach at her wedding in 1829. “The wreath was used to adorn personal items such as the white silk wedding purse of Gertrude Spach….” (Welshimer in Bivins and Welshimer, p. 56).
RELATED NAME: Spach, Gertrude (owner)
Credit Line
Wachovia Historical Society Cardboard