Posted 12 years ago
theantique…
(1 item)
If you have any information at all regarding the meaning of the marks on this Chatelaine Bag, who the maker was, what era it was made, whether it's American or European, etc., I would greatly appreciate it as this piece has me totally stumped! Thanks in advance for any help!!!
I have a small collection of antique and vintage purses, and acquired this one about 20 years ago at a local estate sale. What I know about it is that it appears to be made of black wool and has lovely needlework on the front in brightly colored yarn. It has a silver frame, and a silver clip or hook is connected to the top of the frame by a hinge. I think both the frame and hook are sterling; it passes the magnet test and has a nice patina. It definitely has the look and feel of sterling.
The total length from the top of the hook to the bottom of the black wool bag is 12 inches. Overall this piece is in very nice condition.
I have spent many hours online scouring encyclopedias of antique silver maker's marks and hallmarks, but have come up with absolutely nothing.
There are 3 sets of marks stamped in 3 different locations on the silver frame:
Mark 1 is just an "M" in a serif font.
Mark 2 is "KKK," also in a serif font.
Mark 3 is in a sans serif font as shown below:
JOHS. KRISTIANSEN
JKOSE
NW
THANKS AGAIN!
Hi there Antiquefreak,
This bag belongs to a traditional folks costume from Gudbrandsdalen in Norway.
http://www.norskflid.no/bunad/bunader/oppland/gudbrandsdalens-festbunad/
http://bunader.com/bunader/detailed.php?ID=111
If you are interested you can see some wonderful costumes here: http://www.bunad-magasinet.no/brud-og-brudgom.28793.no.html
It is a possibilty that your item isn't sterling but 830s, which has been used a lot in Norway in past times, with no mark it can be hard to tell.
Johannes Kristiansen was born in Lillehammer in 1889 and died in 1948 in Kjose.
Kjose is a place in Southern Norway close to the city of Larvik. He studied to become a jeweller, specialising in the filigree technic.
Johs. Kristiansen was also a painter and a woodworker, he had a workshop in Kjose. He got several scholarships, that made him able to also study jewellery in Germany. There is a jeweller still working in Larvik called Johs. Kristiansen.
http://www.bunadsolv.no/
Hope this solved the mystery of your bag.
Kind regards,
Aase
It is so beautiful - look at the work put into this bag/purse, and then silver as well! Can't believe my eyes when I see that I'm the first to love this after it was posted 10 months ago! This is folklore art! Enjoy your bag!