COMMUNITY A Clutch of Vintage Purses in Roswell
Go Nodar and daughter Susan Saul, sit beneath one of Go’s paintings. Display case of 21 vintage purses.
Gold metal mesh bag with accordion opening and removable cap.
By Chana Shapiro Go Nodar grew up in a family that appreciated art and fine crafts, and who were artists themselves. Her father was a furnituremaker, a wood-turner and a sculptor, and her mother was an accomplished artist. It’s natural that Nodar, who at one time taught art, has a fondness for handmade objects. This affinity for well-crafted items led her to build collections that are both beautiful and rare. Nodar, who wears spectacular earrings and bright green nail polish, lives in a California-style home with light pouring in from all sides, illuminating works by her father, her daughters, and her own paintings. As she enthusiastically takes visitors from room to room, one tours a personal museum that the owner loves to share. There are hand-turned wooden vessels made by Nodar’s father and stained glass, monoprints, and large mixed media wall art made by her daughters. A long wall of cabinets houses a king’s ransom of rare pre-WWII Noritake porcelain. A visitor stops at a large glass key case displaying 21 vintage purses. Each purse is hand-made, and all are more than 100 years old. The group represents styles and materials used in bespoke purses from the turn of the 20th century, including tiny bags of silver mesh, intricate embroidery, elaborate beadwork, and tooled silver. Nodar demonstrates how cleverly the silk linings were designed, with fitted compartments that once held a woman’s necessities, which might have small spaces for face powder and puff, a mirror, and a dainty handkerchief. The purses are an enticing prelude to the 80 handbags in Nodar’s extensive collection. Nodar explains how it all began. “Our family spent a lot of time in museums, and 56 | SEPTEMBER 15, 2021ATLANTA JEWISH TIMES
Mesh purse with fitted silk compartments and mirror.
there were loads of art books in the house. Our three daughters had all kinds of art supNodar carried this beauty with plies at home, and beaded fringe for a while we even built a known Atlanta jewelry designer large workroom and goldsmith who now works for them, so there at Aimée Jewelry and Fine Art was plenty of creGallery, joins her mother as they ativity going on. show the delicate purses to their Around 1967, my visitor. “It’s wonderful to see these 10-year-old daughElaborately beaded purse with purses after a long time,” Nodar ter Susan and I unusual design and beaded fobs. says, expressing admiration for were shopping tocomplex beadwork and clever degether for unususigns, “and I love the purses with al, colorful beads. detailed internal compartments.” She takes During our excursions, we noticed antique out a slim “Miser’s Purse” with a hidden slit purses and we both fell in love with them. opening, and a bag with a motif seemingly After that, we began to scour shops and flea made from random beads. “They’ll all belong markets, and we started buying inexpensive to Susan some day and become part of her old purses together. We both became colleccollection,” Nodar asserts. tors, and as the years went by, Susan and I Her daughter adds, “Some of these added to each other’s collections.” purses were made from kits that could be Nodar doesn’t know the current value purchased for a few dollars. The most popuof her trove. “I paid from $6 to $12 for most lar maker of these kits was Whiting and Daof my purses. I assume they are worth much vis, and they’re still in business.” The average more than that, but condition is important cost of a kit, which would include thousands and time is the enemy,” she notes. Except for of tiny glass or silver beads, a silk or suede the purses in the display cabinet, Nodar’s collining, decorative or jeweled clasp and finlection is carefully stored in closed containishing materials, was $3, not a small sum in ers to protect the purses from deterioration. those days. And a great deal of handwork Nodar’s daughter, Susan Saul, a wellwas required to complete the purse. Whiting
This tiny, beaded bag with beaded handle was homemade in design and execution.
and Davis sells vintage-style or authentic vintage bags, but Nodar’s are much older. The special-occasion purses in her collection date from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Her vintage purses bring back recollections for Nodar. “My favorite memory is of buying a lovely, petite, silver mesh purse from a very senior lady who told me she carried it to her high school prom, which was probably in the early 1900s. She demonstrated how and for what purpose the clever interior was designed. A second favorite memory is from after the earth-shattering 1994 Northridge earthquake, when I lived in California. My contractor repaired our house, and then he presented me with an antique purse, saying he admired my collection. I was traumatized by the earthquake, and very touched by his thoughtfulness.” Nodar no longer adds to her collection, but she’s never idle. In addition to game nights with youthful friends, this greatgrandmother bowls with her two siblings and is doing a lot of writing, intended for her family, including an autobiography: “My Life on Planet Earth, So Far.” ì
