Customer Reviews

Restoring & Collecting Antique Beaded Purses

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book has become my purse collecting bible! The photography is gorgeous and the amount of material covered is unbelievable. Tons of full color shots of high quality pieces, as well as pictures of slightly more affordable purses. The beaded purse sections are particulary exhaustive. Ms. Heartig obviously knows her subject! My only complaints are that many of the pictures she refers to in the text are miss numbered, making it occasionally hard to follow. The author also tends to wander off on tangents, and sometimes never seems to get around to the subject of the chapter. Despite these faults, I would highly recommend this book to any antique purse collector.

This book does contain some valuable tidbits of information, but it is more than a little disappointing. Having created and restored purses of my own, I was expecting this book to provide definitive information about the restoration process. But alas, the author's instructions are vague in most cases - she offers "tips" rather than true instruction. In her historic overview, one also questions whether or not she has ever made a purse herself - she doesn't seem to understand the process of knitting in the round.

This volume does contain some beautiful pictures and is very nicely put together. Slightly overpriced, it is still an interesting book for purse collectors and those interested in restoration, but don't look to it for the answers to all of your beading questions.

If you own a beaded purse collection or even have just one antique beaded bag that is less than perfect, you MUST have this book. Well known authority on antique beaded purses, Evelyn Haertig has authored the most information packed book on restoration techniques I have ever seen. While the book is very detailed, it is still easy to read and a feast for the eyes. After reading this book I was able to do my own repairs. Restoration techniques are discussed in depth all the way from the necessary tools to the frames and lining. Speaking of frames, this book has the most glorious frames pictured. Even if it is not your desire to repair your own purses, this book will help you to understand how your purses were constructed by women so long ago and how much time and effort were put in to this lost art. It will also help you to understand what your restorationist does and what a reasonable price for restoration is. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a purse collection or a passion for antique purses.

I was a little disappointed with some of the content, the information to repair should be a little bit more detailed but thats just my opinion.

This book is truely a masterpiece! To any purse collector this book is invaluable for cataloguing and understanding their collection. I have referred to my copy so many times to help me with my collection! The photography is beautiful and the writing shows great knowledge of the subject. I have met Mrs. Haertig and she is an expert on purses having researched this book for over 7 years in many great museum collections in Europe and the USA. Her book is the standard for many museums with purse collections. The price may seem high, but to a collector of fine, quality purses valued in the thousands, the book is priced less than that of an inexpensive purse. Mrs. Haertig is an amazing lady in her 80s who is still writing books. Her latest book is "Restoring & Collecting Antique Beaded Purses" which has just been published after restoring hundreds of fine purses and giving workshops on purse restoration all over the country.

Kathie Weston, purse restorer:
Working for many years with Evelyn Haertig helping her restore her collection of antique beaded purses was an education in the history of these great purses and gave me a great appreciation of their workmanship. Evelyn's passion for the beautiful purses and restoring them led me to be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to work with her.

Her last book, Restoring and Collecting Antique Beaded Purses, is a final gift to anyone, a beginner or seasoned collector will appreciate the knowledge she passes on to us in this 3rd book. She begins with the evolution of the beaded purse, if read carefully you will appreciate the little pieces of knowledge she shares. The colored photos enable the readers to picture the meaning behind her text. Her love of beads was obvious when I worked with her to find the perfect size, and color to fit into a missing spot to complete a repair which finished the purse with great satisfaction. Her information shared on the threads to use and the construction of the body of the purses is a great benefit to anyone attempting this feat. The information she shares in the mastering of a perfect fringe will enable anyone to do an excellent finish, so important for the completing of a purse restoration.

Her chapter on frames and linings speaks for itself in the self evidence of a respect for the manufacturing of the frames and the artful expertise in fitting them with the beaded purse. The choice of lining was always a most important step in the finishing touches.

The final chapter, certainly not the least, leaves the reader satisfaction in a wonderful display of some of the most exquisite scenic and figurine beaded purses with her explicative of each beautiful purse for any reader to enjoy. Adding this book to your library will effectuate your informative books collection.

Submitted with the permission of Kathie Weston.

With so very few books written about beaded purse collecting, it is not difficult to encounter this book if you are looking to learn more about the history and construction of these works of art. Unfortunately, the text is written in an ostentatious style and really gives little serious historical information. The section on restoration actually shows very little real restoration for a book titled "Restoring and Collecting...". The price on this book is a bit steep too. There's a picture of a tile stove in the middle of the book -- with no explanation or continuity in the text. A tile stove? In a book about purses? The purses that appear in the book seem to be mostly from the author's collection, who apparently has found a great way to write off her collection and trips overseas with a book on collecting.

Despite Ms. Haertig's stated desire that this book be the definitive work on historic purses and bags, I would caution the reader to beware! The book is certainly filled with many beatiful color photographs, perhaps the only redeeming quality of this expensive volume. Captions, when they are given, very rarely provide any concrete information such as date or country of origin of the object depicted. The text itself contains so many unsubstantiated claims ("Beaded reticules first appeared in 1791...", p. 19), gross overgeneralizations (stating that a 16th century man's coin purse made from expensive silk velvet, commonly called a 'game bag', was used "to carry game home from the hunt", p. 12), and glaring misinformation (attributing a souvenir purse with the phrase 'Ricordo di Venezia' as a purse signed by its maker, a man named 'Richard of Venice', p. 339-340), that it is of little value to anyone who truly desires accurate historic information. Perhaps a pretty coffee table book, but of little academic value!

I was very happy with all aspects of this purchase,The seller did the very best to get this item to me in a short time,The book was in A1 condition ,Thanks ,Its great when things go smoothly ,