German Leather Kiss-Lock Coin Purse Embossed Early Biplane Panel

A small leather coin purse, probably German, with a plated metal kiss-lock frame, the front of the frame set with an embossed plated metal panel showing an early biplane in flight above a wooded landscape. The purse measures approximately 3¾ inches (9.5 cm) across the pouch and 3⅜ inches (8.5 cm) across the frame, and about 4 inches (10 cm) from the clasp to the bottom of the pouch when laid flat.

The frame is of the usual two-hinged pattern, with rounded upper corners, a pair of ball-headed clasp arms that pass one another to lock, and small spring hinges at each lower end. The front half of the frame carries a shaped metal panel, slightly domed, filling the space between the frame rails. In low relief across the panel a biplane with a box-framed fuselage and long, cross-braced wings is shown in flight, the two stacked wing surfaces visible at the outer tip, its framework picked out in the open bracing characteristic of early machines. The specific type cannot be identified from the relief. Along the upper part of the panel runs a line of trees above a winding horizon line, with small cloud-like forms at the upper right. Along the lower edge of the panel runs a narrow strip of fine diaper or basketweave pattern. The pouch is of soft brown leather with a pebbled grain, gathered into the frame on both sides, and the single compartment is unlined, showing the suede flesh side of the leather. The reverse of the metal panel is visible inside the front of the frame. No maker's mark, inscription, or date is visible on the frame, panel, or leather.

The aircraft on the panel belongs to the first years of powered flight, when the aeroplane was still a novelty that drew crowds wherever it appeared. In Germany the airship had led the way: when Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's LZ 4 was destroyed at Echterdingen in August 1908, a public subscription raised more than six million marks to keep his work going, and the airship became a national symbol. The aeroplane followed quickly. In October 1908 Hans Grade made the first powered flight in Germany by a German, at Magdeburg in a triplane of his own construction; the airfield at Johannisthal outside Berlin opened in 1909, flying schools followed there and elsewhere, and flying meetings drew large paying audiences. In 1912 Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the Kaiser's younger brother and a keen patron of motoring and flight, launched the Nationalflugspende (National Aviation Donation) to support the German aviation industry and the training of military pilots. The enthusiasm of these years carried aircraft and airships onto postcards, toys, tins, jewellery, and everyday objects such as this purse, and aviation motifs remained popular through the First World War, when aircraft took on a new prominence in the public imagination.

The purse carries no inscription, maker's mark, or date, and its precise date and place of manufacture cannot be confirmed from the object alone. The style of the aircraft, with its exposed braced framework, points to the period before or during the First World War, about 1909 to 1918.

Condition shows age and use. The metal panel has toned to a dark grey overall, with rubbing to the high points of the aircraft and landscape and areas of lighter wear across the field, and the plating is worn through to a coppery base metal at the lower right corner and along the right edge of the panel. The frame shows wear to the finish and some light surface spotting, and the clasp is complete. The leather shows creasing, darkening, and small spots consistent with use, and the interior is intact. The spring hinges are present at both ends.

Aviation-themed personal objects from the early years of flight record how quickly the aeroplane entered ordinary life in Imperial Germany, and they make a natural companion to a collection of early aviation postcards, badges, and commemoratives of the Fliegertruppe (Flying Troops, the Imperial German Army's air service) and the airship service.