How do I identify a Whiting & Davis mesh purse?

Look for the frame stamp — Whiting & Davis marked most frames with the company name — and for the fineness of the mesh: their machine-made ring and armour mesh is small, regular and fluid. The company, founded in 1876, is the most collected name in mesh and produced in enormous volumes, so authentic pieces are findable and affordable.

What should I check before buying a vintage mesh purse?

Four things: holes or splits in the mesh (hard to repair invisibly), the frame hinge and clasp (must close firmly), enamel loss on painted mesh (irreversible and spreads), and fringe completeness on 1920s pieces. Honest wear on the metal itself is normal and mostly polishable.

Are vintage mesh purses wearable or display-only?

Sound examples are absolutely wearable — a century of survival is proof of the material. Their limitation is size: most are evening pieces that hold a phone at best. For daily carrying, the modern knitted wire tote is the same material logic at useful scale.

vintage mesh purses

A collector's primer, from spoii.world.

The fastest way to fall for metal mesh is to hold a purse made of it a hundred years ago and feel it pour over your hand like liquid. Vintage mesh is one of the friendliest corners of bag collecting — plentiful, mostly affordable, and genuinely wearable.

What you are looking at

Most vintage mesh purses date from roughly the 1890s to the 1930s — the arc traced in our metal mesh history. Early pieces are hand-linked precious-metal rings; the 1920s boom pieces are machine-made ring or flat "armour" mesh, often enamelled with Art Deco patterns, hung from a decorative frame with a chain handle and usually finished with fringe.

Dating and names

The name to know is Whiting & Davis (Massachusetts, founded 1876) — stamped frames, fine regular mesh, and enormous production volumes that keep prices sane today. German and French makers produced parallel lines; unmarked pieces are common and priced accordingly. Painted enamel mesh generally says 1920s; plain gilt or silver mesh can be earlier or later.

Condition: what matters

Mesh holes and splits — the deal-breaker; invisible repair is nearly impossible.
Frame and clasp — must hinge and snap firmly; frames are the stress point.
Enamel loss — irreversible, and it spreads with wear.
Tarnish — usually fine; on unpainted mesh it is just patina, and gentle cleaning revives it.

Wear it, or carry its descendant

A sound vintage piece is wearable tonight — but at evening-purse scale. If what you actually want is the material in daily service, that is precisely the brief of the modern knitted brass bag: mesh logic, tote scale. Ours is Tonsiba (£95), knitted from fine brass wire and built for the exact loads the flappers never asked of their mesh.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-16