AN EARLY 18TH CENTURY OTTOMAN METAL THREAD EMBROIDERED LEATHER WALLET DATED 1727 the red Morocco...

AN EARLY 18TH CENTURY OTTOMAN METAL THREAD EMBROIDERED LEATHER WALLET

DATED 1727

the red Morocco decorated with scrolling leaves and flowers to the front, inscribed 'Stephen Le Sire 1727' under the shaped flap, the reverse inscribed 'Constantinople 1727'

10.8 x 18.5cm

Catalogue Note

This wallet or purse is one of a number that were brought back to Britain by merchants or traders as souvenirs from Constantinople (Istanbul). They all tend to be personalised with gold or silver embroidery and inscribed with the owner's name and the date and place of purchase. For a similar wallet dated '1705' and belonging to Robert St. Leger, see the Victoria & Albert Museum, no. W.13-1967.

Stephen Le Sire was almost certainly a Huguenot refugee from France, and he was possibly involved in silk weaving based in Spitalfields in London. This would account for the wallet, as he might have acquired it whilst on a buying expedition to Constantinople.