New tat or slightly old tat?

[mariok54]

Hello all, A while back I bought this for my wife (a last minute auction bid) thinking she'd like it. The seller said that it had belonged to her grandmother and that she'd seen it at her grandmother's for years. As it turned out my wife wasn't impressed by it, so it's been on the top of the bookcase ever since.
It turned up again today and I thought that I'd sell it on, but as I couldn't use my grandmother as provenance I thought I'd research it ... but can't seem to find anything at all like it.
Anybody ever seen a bamboo handbag/purse like this before? Measures c 9" x 4" x 5"

[waywardangler]

I am not seeing bamboo, mario.  It looks Indonesian to me.  Not real familiar with purses.

[greenacres]

http://www.fashion-era.com/index.htm
Maybe this website could help you.

[sapphire]

Found another. Yours appears to have it's original handle.  Not really a lot of confirmable info though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350422038115#ht_10732wt_1139

[mariok54]

Wow Sapphire and many thanks!!!!V HOW DID YOU FIND THAT SO QUICKLY??  I Googled everything I could think of.
$429   I can't believe that... it seems such silly money, especially as I don't think that I paid even $45 for it. If that is its realisable price then it wasn't such a silly buy after all..... but looking at their 'shop' some of their items seem to be quite pricey ... but I#ll be watching this to see what it goes for.
You are right about the handle, and the handle is one of the cleverest things about it, it's almost like a simple puzzle box, you have to flip a portion of it back in order to to be able to draw the 'bolt' (dowling) back to lift the lid ... I wonder if they're aware of it?
Thanks, Greenacres, for that site ... it's a fantastic site and it would fascinate my wife, but after 1/2 an hour I was beginning to lose the will to live  
I agree Wayward, it doesn't look much like bamboo, but I think that was down to my photography, and the flash ...
I wonder if my wife will now be a little less unimpressed?  
Thanks all

[sapphire]

If $429 made your eyes bulge, this one should knock your socks off !!   

http://www.jcollector.com/Japanese-Bamboo-Carved-Purse-Edo-p/ji97326.htm

[sapphire]

I thought by the shape of this I had found yet another, but it turns out to be a snuff bottle (don't try to look at tiny pictures when your eyes are half open    ).  Sold for a pretty penny.

http://www.eldreds.com/sales/detail.php?itemID=129580

[hosman321]

I'm just trying to figure out what is making all those sellers so confident that these pieces are all 120-200 years old. Seems a bit hard to tell the age of them and it seems like they would be easily and frequently reproduced. Not trying to be rude, I'm just confused and inexperienced. 

[mariok54]

Hi sapphire ... Side on you'd be forgiven for thinking it the same ! But a nice bottle. Some of the early snuff bottles can fetch a fortune. A few years back my wife and I were at an antiques centre and we picked up this item, marked up at c. £25, and put it back down again as neither of us liked it.  A few months later we saw an almost identical one going for £150 + 

You're not being 'rude' Hosman, just wise ... Question everything is my motto.. and isn't that a raison d'etre for this forum? 

[sapphire]

Have to agree with you there hosman.  There's very little that I can find on them.......other than trying different terms/descriptions in searches they aren't something that pops up too much. If they are correct and these were a common or even slightly common accessory then one would think there would be more to be found.

Unless of course there is an actual 'name' for them that I haven't hit on.........but usually descriptive words bring enough hits if they're out there.

[sapphire]

Seeing basically the same thing listed from $429 to $2495 makes you scratch your head and wonder......do either of these people really know what they have and if so who is right and where did they get their knowledge?

[mariok54]

I don't know how I missed your other message, Sapphire, just seen it!!!!  .... $2,495.00 !!!!! Do you think they could sell it at that price?? At least, if they are early 19c Japanese, then I know where to possibly start looking to find out more about these.
Ours does have a slight crack on the end node which I think has just been as a result of it drying out.
Would you believe it, we actually were thinking of using it as a small plant trough !
I think maybe more homework is needed, and I agree with all your comments, so I'm not going to get too excited just yet 
Thanks again Sapphire.

[waywardangler]

Wow!  Learn something new everyday.  I looked at the online examples that sapphire gave and you can tell those are bamboo.  It appears the purse is made from one section of bamboo with the nodes and walls intact forming the ends.  I do not know what species this is as bamboo culms for rod building are large if they are 3-3 1/2" in diameter and this is 5"?  Bamboo is a member of the grass family and is not actually wood.  Very hard and very sharp.  The cracks that appear naturally occur as bamboo dries.  For rod making, the culms are split on one side to hasten the drying and to control where the culm cracks.  If the one is worth $2495 then the eBay seller's example should have been snapped up as a BIN at $429.  I suspect these are not highly sought after except maybe in Japan or there are very few collectors of them? 

[mariok54]

We certainly do, Wayward, and on this occasion we have Sapphire to thank again.
I've actually e-mailed the antique shop asking them why they think their piece is of the late Edo period (I wonder if they'll respond, and if they do what they'll say?)
I'm certainly with you all on feeling cautious about the price (I just checked and I paid £21, so roughly $30, just this January), and I was beginning to wonder whether it was even worth that... I bought it because it seemed so unusual and I believed my wife would like it ... wrong again    
It is possible that the collectors aren't drawn to the one on ebay as the handle is missing (it does look odd with the piece of dowling stuck through it).
If it is an early Japanese piece then a couple of years ago it might have been snapped up by a buyer from over there, but they're suffering as much as we are now  
We'll see what happens.

[KC]

Most items like this style...are chinese.

Like this brush pot/holder




In fact, I wonder if this is where your purse/tote came from....just transformed
LOOK AT THIS PIC GOOGLE:  http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=iDT&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&biw=1440&bih=785&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=antique+carved+bamboo+brush&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Still have current day ones but are not ornate
http://www.denisederose.com/Handbagsgallery.html