The Bag: A Cultural History from the 16th to the 21st Century
SUMMER EXHIBITION
THE BAG
A cultural history from the 16th to the 21st century
11th April to 25th August 2013
In its 2013 summer exhibition, the Bayerisches National museum brings together around 300 bags from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The spectrum stretches from early coin purses, game bags, pouches, work bags, travel bags and so-called pompadours, to modern handbags for women. Made from leather, metal, linen, velvet and silk, these elegant pieces of history from the museum’s collections are also often intricately decorated with gold and silver thread, beads, appliqué and ribbons. A number of the most precious examples were once owned by the Bavarian royals. Elector Maximilian I’s famous game bag bears witness to the exemplary quality of the embroideries being worked for the court in Munich. A number of little purses probably made by the Wittelsbach princesses have also survived, in addition to a bag of velvet decorated with silver
which once belonged to King Ludwig I. Furthermore, the acquisition of the Williams’ Collection of Historic Dress in 1996 enabled the Bayerisches National museum to add numerous bags and letter cases from the baroque, rococo and neoclassical periods to its holdings. These approximately 250 bags will be presented alongside choice modern pieces which typify and represent the different tastes prevailing from the roaring 20s to the noughties.
Images courtesy of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich.