Black Beaded Clutch

20th century

Swirls of glass beads form a monochrome mosaic on this black clutch. In the front, a narrow flap folds over the semicircular clutch and closes with a metal snap. A hand grab permits the clutch to be held from the back. The glass beads follow a wave pattern on both front and back, including on the front flap, and are secured on a netting in a simple ladder stitch. The clutch’s sides and hand grab feature a straight ladder stitch pattern. The purse belonged to renowned scholar-librarian Dorothy Porter Wesley (1905-1995), who organized and developed an unparalleled collection rooted in African American history that would become the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University in Washington, DC.