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Auction: 26052 - Jewellery & Objets de Vertu
Lot: 103

ATTRIBUTED TO HÉNIN ET CIE, AN ART DECO GOLD AND PLATINUM MESH EVENING BAG WITH SAPPHIRE CLASP
PARIS, CIRCA 1910-1930
Of alternating 14ct gold and platinum mesh, the smooth gold frame with a hinged kissing-lock clasp set with two cabochon sapphires, suspended from a substantial articulated chain.
The interior retaining its original leather lining, hand-stitched to the frame.
French eagle's head mark for 18ct gold, with a maker's lozenge attributed to Hénin et Cie, Paris
Numbered 6079 10
Size/dimensions: 12.70cm long; 17.80cm wide
Gross weight: 381.31g

The sapphires are present and secure. The bag retains its original components, including the hand-stitched leather lining, which shows age-related wrinkling and compression from long storage and small areas of discolouration, including two pen marks. There are minor marks to the frame and chain attachment points. The mesh is well preserved, with signs of age and use consistent with an antique luxury accessory of the period. The hinged frame and clasp are in perfect working order, and the bag overall is offered in very good condition.



Provenance

Princess Henriette of Belgium, Duchess of Vendôme (1870-1948), eldest sister of King Albert I of Belgium

By gift to her eldest daughter, Princess Marie Louise of Orléans (1896-1973), later Mrs Walter F. Kingsland

By gift to the present owner

Family provenance; no documentary evidence accompanies the lot.


In the early decades of the twentieth century, the evening bag became one of the defining accessories of modern fashion. The slender, uncorseted dresses of the 1910s and 1920s left no room for pockets, and women carried small bags suspended from chains, made by goldsmiths and jewellers in precious metals and set with gemstones. Mesh bags, woven from thousands of tiny interlinked rings, were especially prized: supple as fabric yet made entirely of metal, they caught the light with every movement on the dance floor. The most luxurious were made in gold, and as platinum became the fashionable metal of the finest Parisian jewellery, some combined the two.


This exceptional bag is an example of that luxury. Its mesh alternates crisp bands of gold and platinum in the geometric spirit of Art Deco design, it hangs from a gold frame and chain, and closes with a kissing-lock clasp set with two cabochon sapphires. Retaining its original hand-stitched leather lining, it is a rare survival of a type that was often broken up for its metal value in later years.


Over the years its owners hung charms from its chain, including a Fabergé citrine and diamond egg pendant and a Cartier enamel charm of the mid-twentieth century, now offered as lots 54 and 6.


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Estimate
£24,000 to £30,000

Starting price
£19000