Purse

Birmingham, Alabama

About 1915

  • Titles Purse (Descriptive)
  • Medium glass beads, cotton
  • Dimensions Overall: 6 x 9 in. (15.2 x 22.9 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Ezra G. Sims, Jr. and Kathryn S. Pentzer in memory of their mother, Kathryn W. Sims, 1986.544
  • Work Type purse
  • Classification Costume

See More of the Collection

Jar or crock with speckled green and brown glaze
Baskets quilt
Seven Sisters quilt
A figural jug depicting an African-American man with exaggerated facial features, particularly his caricatured lips, nose and ears. His curly hair is formed by incised repeating loops, resembling scribbles. He wears a cap, hoop earrings, shirt with a stand up collar (and single visible stud or button), cravat, and a coat with broad lapels and buttons impressed with “J. LEHMAN,” the maker’s name. A large, buckle-like square probably surrounded a paper label for whatever product the jug contained. The figure has arms, but no hands, and is rendered to appear as if his hands are shoved in the pockets of his coat. There are small air holes at the back of each arm to prevent an explosion during firing. The jug’s handle is a shaped like the number 9, and is finished (where the tail of the handle meets the body of the jug) with a mold-formed grape and grape leaf motif found in some of Lehman’s other decorated vessels. There appears to be an oval incised on the bottom of the vessel.