Featured Today’s finds - Celluloid bag handle, spider and beads.

I wouldn't do that to you.

 

The evening bag frame is wonderful, definitely a mix of Celluloid-type plastics. From ones I've seen, I would guess body of bag was knit/crochet is some way & possibly beaded using beads of the same material(s) as the frame. They unravel easily if a thread breaks & are sometimes cannibalized for the beads.

The beads in the strand do not look at all like ivory; will wait for detailed pix of cleaned up beads to guess at true nature.

Love the spider. Looks very well made to me & could be silver with moonstone or labradorite.

 

I love your antique celluloid purse frame (I'm thinking 1920s-30s). I searched "vintage celluloid purse" on ebay and found several examples with frames similar to yours. The bags included velvet, crocheted, silk, and some that were beaded. One frame alone sold for $150.

 

Wow!. Thankyou for looking @Joan .There must be something special about that one to sell for that price. The top one looks about my capabilities to sew although I was rather proud of the bonnet I made for my daughters school play!

 

Do you have a picture of the bonnet you made for your daughter's school play?

The purse frame that sold for US$150 was located in France, and the seller described it as "Art Nouveau 20s hand carved cut-through celluloid" (6" wide). Another frame (a pearlized celluloid) that didn't have any carving sold for $65. Yours has a lot going for it, including the cut-through carving, the faux-tortoiseshell section, the large layered knob, original celluloid chain, excellent condition, and what looks more like an Art Deco design. Celluloid that has faint stripes running through it is sometimes called "French ivory," which was the trade name for celluloid items made by the JB Ash Co. in Illinois. It's heyday was 1910s-30s.

 

Hi,
I would like your frame with a piece of tapestry. I would love to see it in a fancy silk satin. i think no matter what you use it would look great.
greg

 

Unless you plan on keeping the purse frame, why not sell it as is. I would think a buyer would like to select their own material/pattern.

 

For your spider, I can't see well the stones,


But suspect they are similar to these:



and this apatite cat's eye:
https://www.gemselect.com/french/cats-eye-apatite/cats-eye-apatite-443016.php

 

Am I the only one seeing what look suspiciously like Shraeger lines in that "celluloid"?

 

No Schreger cross-hatching, just the parallel lines of 'French ivory', celluloid faux ivory.
With real ivory there would be cross-hatching on the rounded parts, like on the knob. But they are straight all the way, a characteristic of celluloid faux ivory:

 

Ah, that's better.Ta.

 

Exactly. The lines in Celluloid are straighter, stay closer to parallel & run on in longer unbroken stretches that the growth lines in ivory. Hard to gauge from the top of the knob but easy to see on the main section.

 

Some of those may be chrysoberyl rather than apatite. In the photos of this spider I do not see any chatoyancy & the basic color looks grey. My feeling is that they are genuine stones because why would you choose grey for a piece with glass stones?

 

This is exactly what it looks like with a longitudinal reflection that turns as you move it.

 

Great new word!
Having googled , I can now confidently say the spider stones have chatoyancy!
Just not apparent from my photo in poor light- sorry

 

Any idea of a date for spididly?

 

Thinking beginning 20th, how is the clasp and hinge?

 

Gorgeous finds! Looks like celluloid to me? Was called "French ivory," but neither. And the chain! Wow....... I'd use a tiny black/white/ivory striped fabric; something that shows a little sheen to it. And, gee, the spider would look so well with my spider collection! And the beads....? Could they perhaps be a type of jade?

 

I dunno. It looks like knife stitching to me, fairly common on some Victorian garments, ruffled skirt tiers for example.