Medium: Silk net and millinery flowers

Date: c.1938

Country: France

Credit: Museum purchase

Elsa Schiaparelli is best known for her humorous and often surrealistic style, which can be seen in this evening bag from the late 1930s. Famous as the designer responsible for the "shoe hat" and buttons shaped like lamb chops, Schiaparelli also created a handbag in the form of a Victorian nosegay, evoking her love of Victoriana. The poesy bag is fashioned of violets and pansies, flowers closely associated with the sentimental culture of the Victorian period. The trompe l'oiel effect of the poesy bag is emphasized by the loosely stitched flowers - when the bag moves, the flowers tremble like an actual bouquet.

Object Number: P87.19.1