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“One's handbag is an extension of self, persona, personality . . . .” —Leila Hadley Luce

The world is full of objects that have value, utility, and meaning. For a woman, one of the most essential of these items is her handbag. Of all her belongings—and by whatever name it’s called, whether handbag, bag, purse, or old-fashioned pocketbook—this quintessential feminine object is not only one of the most indispensable but also one of the most meaningful and best loved. Pocketbook Anthropology: A Treasure of Handbags explores the cultural meanings of and emotional attachments to purses, illustrating how this familiar object is more than just a container of necessities.

The exhibition covers a myriad of styles, materials, and forms from 1880 to the present, representing memories, emotions, messages, and identities. Funky, elegant, and whimsical bags are featured alongside those made from precious metal, duct tape, cigarette packaging, and glass beads. Hands-on examples and commentary by a fashion historian are included, as well as anecdotes, quips, and literary quotations featured on text panels and labels.

Curator Barbara G.S. Hagerty—a photographer, journalist, and self-described “pocketbook anthropologist”—has examined the paradoxical qualities of this basic, yet essential, object through two books on handbags, Purse Universe and Handbags: A Peek Inside a Woman’s Most Trusted Accessory. Pocketbook Anthropology offers an examination of this neglected cultural material to demystify, deconstruct, illuminate, and simply enjoy what is perhaps the most deeply felt relationship between a female and a most quotidian—yet highly symbolically charged—worldly object.