Exhibition of historic handbags, the new collectables

TRIESTE, Italy (AFP) — Handbags are the new jewellery, the New York Times recently noted, and with vintage models fetching increasingly high prices at auction, they are also becoming eminently collectable.

An exhibition of historic handbags at the romantic Castello di Duino, ancestral home of the Von Thurn und Taxis family on the Adriatic near Trieste, offers a privileged oversight of the evolution of what has become a woman's most indispensable accessory.

Scattered in showcases throughout the castle and on the top floor are bags from the 1800s to the present day, including rare, early examples of so-called miser's purses, with drawstring necks, designed to be hung from a belt.

But it is from the 1900s that the handbag as we know it came into being, reflecting the personal taste of the wearer and as much of an individual statement as a calling card.

Particularly dazzling are the delicious "minaudieres" -- tiny evening bags in lacquered metal or tortoiseshell or silk, often custom-made -- from the 1920s and 1930s.