The Monnaie Museum, not far from our hotels, has a new exhibition on a very specialised but interesting subject – the history and art of purses over the centuries, with a number of exhibits that are surprising and/or exquisite!

Over the ages, purses have not only been useful for keeping your change tidy, they were also an indicator of one’s social status. For example, in the 19th century, you could not be chic in Parisian society without nonchalantly showing off how much money you had invested in the object actually containing your money.

Many of the pieces on display come from the spectacular collection of one man – Henri Joannis-Deberne – covering the period from 1830 to 1930. Other pieces have been borrowed from French museums and the archives of manufacturers of jewellery and leather goods.

In all, over 200 porte-monnaie made of leather, metal, wood, ivory, mother or pearl, fabric or shell, hailing from England, France, Italy, Austria and Russia will be available for your scrutiny, together with items used by the people who produced these richly-ornamented tiny items.

Additionally, beautiful coins from the museum’s collection will be on display to show you just how well the two go together!

This is the first exhibition of its sort ever organised in France, and we think you should go and check it out (for our photo visit of this extraordinary museum, click here).

The exhibition Chic et utile, l’art du porte-monnaie is at the Monnaie Museum (here) from 17th May – 3rd November 2019

Open every day except Mondays from 11am-7pm (9pm Wednesdays)

Admission: 10€ / 7€ (1€ cheaper if you book online here).

7€ for all visitors on the first Wednesday of the month from 7-9pm

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