Vintage Purse with Cherries

"At the height of my cherry phase" — Patricia cheerfully admits this small vintage purse arrived as a gift at exactly the right moment, and it is not hard to see why it found its way to her. Compact enough to sit in the palm of a hand, this is a purse that commits fully to its theme. The upper panel is a printed cotton or canvas in pale yellow, scattered with bold botanical cherries — deep red fruit, orange-red stems and dark green leaves in a graphic, almost mid-century style. Below a dark grosgrain ribbon border, the lower body shifts to charcoal ribbed fabric densely worked with three-dimensional cherry clusters: deep red seed beads, polished red resin or glass beads standing proud of the surface, tiny faceted crystal accents and carefully stitched green satin leaves running along the front like a branch in full fruit. A black zip closes the top and it can be carried over the shoulder with the chain. A gift that clearly understood its recipient, this purse would sit happily on a dressing table, a bedside shelf or tucked into a market basket — equally at home in a Paris apartment or at Chanteduc, where cherries from the Vaucluse markets would feel entirely at ease with it.