№ 1219

Leather handbag with wooden cover in Mauchline ware showing buildings in French city Fontainebleau

In the 19th century in various towns and regions of Europe, like Mauchline, Spa and Karlsbad, industries sprang up for making souvenirs. This handbag is a typical example of Scottish Souvenir Wood ware known as Mauchline Ware, because the vast majority of these small wooden items bearing pictures designed to appeal to 19th Century tourists were made in the Ayrshire town of Mauchline. The industry flourished in Scotland for 160 years and during that period hundreds of thousands of high quality wood ware souvenirs were despatched to all parts of the British Isles, Europe, North and South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Scotland, 1880s.