Figural Dancer Beaded Purse

A bead knitted figural purse made in Germany (Göppingen) by Karl Seyfang. A wonderful green backdrop makes this figure of a dancer pop out.  The figure may be modeled on sculpture and ceramics depicting Greek Maenads. 

 Link to another purse by Karl Seyfang at the Toledo Museum of Art. 

Info from the Toledo Museum website on Karl Seyfang: The Kunstwerkstätten Seyfang Göppingen (KaSeGö) were founded in the German city of Göppingen by Karl Seyfang in 1918, producing knitted beaded purses and selling applied arts made of ivory, brass, and precious metals. The beaded purse industry blossomed at that time in this region, with the largest employers (among them Seyfang) employing around 500 workers each, many part of a regional cottage industry. Much of the products were sold to American importers. Around 1928 the industry declined due to cheap imports of embroidered purses from the Czech Republic and Silesia, and metal purses from France and England. Karl Seyfang closed the Kunstwerkstätten and founded in 1930, jointly with his son Rolf, a glass factory for tableware, called the Gralglas-Werkstätten.

Collection of Lori Blaser