Blue felt bag belonging to Etta Moten Barnett: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a navy blue felt purse belonging to Etta Moten Barnett. It is an oblong-shaped bag with an oval bottom and a straight top with a hinged frame opening. The opening frame is made of gold colored metal. There is a small half-oval shaped flange in the center of the frame that lifts to release the latch. The purse has a short handle made of matching fabric attached to the purse by two gold-colored rings. On the exterior of the bag is a fold of navy blue felt cloth that covers the side of the purse but is cut away in the center into a point, exposing the underlayer of fabric. The interior of the bag is lined in red leather. There is a white tag with red text sewn to the interior hem that reads “WILSHIRE / REG. / ORIGINAL.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1950-2004
• Manufactured by: Wilshire
• Owned by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: purses (bags)
• Medium: felt and cloth and leather , metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 10 1/4 × 7 11/16 × 1 9/16 in. (26 × 19.5 × 4 cm)
• Place used: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: A2022.13.1.78.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.