A rare and highly unusual Bakelite topped Chinese man handbag, France, 1920s

A real collector's piece, and conversation point, this highly imaginative and charming handbag design is a rarity, and is wonderful to use and wear. The centre of the 'rose' pulls to one side, releasing the catch, hence allowing the bag to open. The top is made from delicately hand curled 'petals' of coloured celluloid, the actual frame in dark green is robust and strong, with stronger green leaves, underlying the 'bloom'. The bag is made from mole brown silk velvet, with a black 'ruffled' trim highlight. Many bakelite and celluloid bags...

A very rare and outstanding yellow silk moire handbag, topped with a beautiful and intact hand painted celluloid 'rose', with green leaves. Handbags with these highly decorative and ...

A charming and highly decorative handbag, made from golden/amber silk velvet, which has a veil, or netting, layer over the top , giving a delicacy and depth to the handbag. Topped w...

Pierre Cardin’s preference, right from the start, was always for large jewels, and always designed in close connection with the garment, accentuating a predominant element of the cut, or drawing attention to a detail. Training essentially as an architect, he moved into fashion, working first for Paquin, them moving to Elsa Schiaparelli and , finally, Christian Dior, before opening his own house in 1950. Designing ground breaking...