kise paisa (Purse)

Used to carry money, valuables and documents. The wallet folds to form a pocket-sized rectangle, secured by the triangular flap. Remnants of thread on the flap suggest that there may once have been a button and loop closure.

Collected by Allice Legat while she was doing anthropological field work in Afghanistan. Similar in style to examples shown in 'Afghan Embroidery' and 'Traditional Textiles of Central Asia,' identified as “Pashtun nomad" objects.

Embroidered and beaded wallet-style purse, long and narrow in shape, with a triangular flap at one end. The outside is embellished with panels of predominantly red embroidery representing flowers, leaves and vines, worked on a green fibre broadcloth background and edged with couched silver metallic threads. The wallet is edged with multi-coloured glass beads. The inside of the wallet is divided into two compartments, each closed with a flap, plus one long inner compartment that extends the full length of the purse. The embroidery on the inside is the same style as on the outside. The flaps are edged with multi-coloured embroidery. The compartments are lined with machine-printed textiles.