Beyond the Flowers: Openings and Bases in Knitted Purses at the Rijksmuseum
Research and writing: DDUJA KNIT
A beaded bag catches the eye with flowers and glints of colour. Before it can carry anything, however, it needs an opening, a closure and a usable base. Five objects at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum offer a way to separate decorative pattern from structural work. Four are recorded as knitting; a later woven comparison shows why beads alone cannot identify a technique.
This is an object study, not a claim about the origins of Dutch knitting. Some records specify the Netherlands, others name several regions, and the comparison is Western European. A museum’s location is not automatically an object’s place of manufacture. For the broader clothing story, see our Dutch knitting overview.
A gift with a name and a date
The record for BK-NM-1119 [1] identifies poet Petronella Moens as the maker of a purse given to M. C. Boellaard of Utrecht on 9 February 1841. It also lists the recipient’s statement among its documentation. That is evidence of a gift date, not necessarily the date knitting began.
The narrow wool body has blue and white stripes, a central opening and two sliding steel rings. It is unlined. The rings perform a closure function rather than merely adding shine. A documented exchange lets us read this object through a relationship as well as through its materials.
A drawstring and a star do different jobs
BK-1994-5 [2] is attributed to an anonymous Dutch maker. Two braided cotton cords pass through openings near the upper edge. The museum describes four horizontal decorative zones, including flowers and leaves, and a blue eight-pointed star at the bottom. There is no lining.
These details suggest a useful viewing method: distinguish the working opening, the storage body and the underside. A surface motif does not explain how every part was made. Finding a repeat in a photograph does not establish a cast-on count or a shaping sequence.
A basket shape needs more than a knitted surface
The upper part of BK-TN-2618 [3] is finely worked openwork knitting; yellow beaded rows appear between floral bands below. The record says that the unlined bag had not yet received its base stiffening. Its dimensions explicitly describe the present flattened state. The Netherlands and Western Europe both appear in the production information.
That qualification matters: a measured height of 3cm is not automatically the intended height in use. Nor does the missing stiffening establish why work stopped. The record preserves a construction question without supplying a maker’s personal story.
BK-1955-23 [4] provides a contrasting account. A stiffened hoop and a round base of thick paper help form its narrow-waisted lower section. Cotton and glass sit alongside paper and iron—with uncertainty marked for the iron—in the materials. Both the northern Netherlands and Germany are listed, so we do not assign a definite single origin. The cord may have been added later.
Reading these two objects together shifts attention from ornament to assembly. A soft outer surface and a supporting component can perform different tasks. This is a comparison of catalogue evidence, not a claim to have dismantled or physically examined either bag.
Beadwork does not automatically mean knitting
The later BK-1973-650 [5] has blue, green and white beads, a diagonal open grid and a white satin lining. Its technique field says weaving, while the description qualifies that identification with a question mark. We retain that uncertainty rather than turning it into another knitted example.
“Bag” names a type of object, “bead” identifies a component, and “knitting” describes a method. Similar surface motifs cannot collapse those categories. A catalogue’s small question mark can be as informative as its most confident date.
Five things to mark on your next bag pattern
As an editorial exercise, mark the opening, body, base, lining and stiffening separately on a pattern you are entitled to use. Ask which element closes the bag, which carries its contents and which holds its shape. This is a way to read construction, not a reproduction pattern for these museum objects.
If making your own sample, include the yarn and beads you intend to use, then record dimensions, weight and stretch. Consult the chosen pattern’s gauge and material instructions instead of reverse-engineering needle size from a finished museum measurement. Historical photographs are evidence to study; they are not tested modern instructions.
These objects do not yield one national recipe. They preserve a documented gift, a missing structural component, a shaped paper-supported base and a qualified technique attribution. After enjoying the flowers, look again at the opening and the underside. They tell a different part of the story.
Sources
- Rijksmuseum · BK-NM-1119
- Rijksmuseum · BK-1994-5
- Rijksmuseum · BK-TN-2618
- Rijksmuseum · BK-1955-23
- Rijksmuseum · BK-1973-650
- Rijksmuseum · Collection Online and image reuse
Checked 14 October 2026. Five real museum photographs, no AI images: four knitted objects and one weaving comparison. Individual public-domain notices and the museum’s image policy were checked.