Featured Please help with this beadwork piece

This came in lot with some beaded purses. Is it a bodice insert? Or for something else? How old is it? I am not familiar with beadwork at all so any assistance or guidance would be ever so helpful. The back stitches are so even, it is machine sewn? There is some bead loss/loose beads I think.

 

I don't know how big it is, but it seems too short to be a bodice insert.
It also looks a bit asymmetrical, but that could be due to the position in the photos, which are excellent btw.

Is it padded? If so, it isn't just any appliqué piece, but has a specific purpose.

 

I should have included the size. sorry. It is 5 1/2" long and 3 3/4" wide. It is not padded. In handling it just now, I discovered it opens at the top so it is made of two separate pieces. The back has the circular stitching and looking at the inside of the front looks like the beads were hand stitched. Apparently then the two pieces were attached at the borders. Perhaps it was the start of a handmade purse? I will try to get a picture of the inside.

 

Please excuse the mess on my desk. Pictures of the inside:

 

It looks like a decorative pocket someone has removed from a dress.

Debora

 

From what era were the beaded bags?

Debora

 

Pretty much every era for centuries, but they were very popular in the 20s and 30s. This looks later though.

 

I was asking specifically about the beaded bags in the lot. Which might help date this item.

Debora

 

I haven't started to photograph and research the beaded bags. Here are some quick pictures. The lot also came with some vintage (not pictured) compacts (Stratton, Volupte and a beaded one that is marked Made in France)

The first is large (7 1/2" wide and 8" long including handle) and has a tag inside that says "Hand Made in Belgium For KenMark"

The second is a small clutch or coin purse (4 1/2" wide and 3" tall). No tags.

The third is tapestry coin purse. The zipper pull is marked Made is Germany (4" wide and 2 3/4" tall)

 

@Debora: here are some quick pictures of the bags. Your suggestion of a pocket is interesting. I am not sure I can picture how that would work. I do appreciate all the theories and suggestions as I am clueless.

 

After seeing the interior, looks to me it was a bodice insert that went from the center waist line up to the bottom of the bust line for support and may have had a hidden "pocket" in there too.

 

Rough idea. Yours looks like it could have been placed on a bodice.

Debora

 

@Debora ok, seeing the picture helps me understand how it would work. Thanks. So possibly, 1930's-1940's?

@antidiem Thank you, that would make sense as well.

 

Ah, just saw your measurements. Too big for bodice. But would work on skirt then. To my eye, it could be 1940s. Not an expert but... The bags look like late 1940s into the 1950s. Others may be more knowledgable. May we see the KENMARK tag?

Debora

 

@Debora

 

So... KENMARC. Not KENMARK.

Debora

 

Yes, I misspelled in my post.

 

And with the correct information... We find a mention in the trade press in 1946.

Debora

 

Thank you Debora. I will be more careful in the future.

So it's possible that the lot was from the 1940's-1950's. The Western Germany one, I'm sure, is from after the WWII so from the 1950's I think.

 

So there's one that's marked "Western Germany"?

Debora