A Passion for Purses
For most of us, the decision to buy another handbag is about one or more of the following considerations: does this one match any of my shoes or will I have to buy new shoes? Does this one have a designated cell phone space that will guarantee no missed calls? Is this one small enough to be demure ... yet large enough to live out of for the weekend? Or, my particular favorite: why would I need another handbag... the ONE I have is just fine!
But for JWOL member Samra Robbins, handbag purchases are quite different. Are there clues that define the century in which this bag was made? Does the price adequately reflect the complexity of the beadwork? How bejeweled is the frame? Is the handiwork on the back as intricate as that on the front? Is the silk-threaded lining intact or is it rotting? Clearly, Samra is not standing next to me in Macy’s. She is in antique shops in all over the world combing though boxes packed up at estate sales or fingering the beautifully displayed bags in the glass cases. Or she is at home accepting a sentimental gift from a friend’s family.
And she has a beautiful collection of more than sixty handbags — all from the 1890s to the 1920s — to show for it. Samra has been collecting fine antique handbags for twenty years, and antique jewelry since she was ten years old. It began when she accompanied her antique-loving parents to a show and was so enamored with a pin that she chose to spend her allowance to buy it. A few more allowances bought her a few more pieces. When her passion for jewelry turned to a passion for handbags — many of which are themselves bejeweled — Samra was officially a “collector.” But the number of pieces alone does not make her collection memorable; it is the discriminating taste that defines her choices that makes it most special.
To be privileged to have Samra take you on a tour of her handbag collection is to see a woman, herself ever-elegantly accessorized, with a passion for her purses. She speaks lovingly about each bag and what defines its beauty. When she carefully takes a bag down from the unique knob from which it hangs, and poses with it just so, you can almost see the bag’s original owner as she was announced at the entrance to a cotillion, or as she anxiously stepped into the parlor to receive a gentleman caller, or as she danced wildly at a “Gatsby-era” party on the Sound.
Who made these bags? Who carried them? Where have they been? What valuables and necessities were tucked away inside? Unfortunately, the early journeys of these bags are unknown, but their paths crossed when they became part of Samra’s collection. And she did not retire them. Until recently, Samra carried them, choosing the perfect bag to carry on her arm for a night out on the town. On her other arm at these occasions was Samra’s distinguished husband, Ron, who admits that Samra’s passion for antique handbags is infectious. He participates willingly, often taking the lead, when they look for antique shops on their travels. He is as interested in finding their next perfect acquisition as she is.
For two reasons the public rarely sees these antique treasures: one, Samra doesn’t get dressed up as much as she used to, and two, as the bags age, they become less able to weather the elements. Her priority is to preserve the collection, even if it means just enjoying the handbags on display in her home. This collection of fine antique handbags is a Landings treasure, but not nearly as treasured as their collector is by the JWOL membership. Thank you for sharing, Samra!