The Hendrikje Museum of Bags & Purses

The Museum of Bags and Purses is a unique museum that displays the history of the western handbag from the late Middle Ages right up to the present. It is considered one of the top eight fashion museums in the world.

The museum manages a collection of over 3500 bags, pouches, suitcases, purses and other accessories, which provide a fascinating picture of how the bag has changed over the centuries in terms of function, form, material and decoration. The collection is very diverse: 17th century pouches and alms purses, 18th century thigh bags, wallets and framed bags, 19th century reticules and stocking purses and classical, exceptional and special models from the 20th and the 21st century.

Next to the permanent collection, the museum also organises various themed exhibitions and exhibitions of contemporary designers from the Netherlands and overseas.

The Hendrikje Museum of Bags and Purses is located in a magnificent historical building on the Herengracht in Amsterdam dating from 1664, right behind Rembrandtplein. Two period rooms can be viewed here complete with ceiling paintings and mantlepieces from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The museum shop contains a wide range of bags from Dutch and overseas designers, as well as a varied stock of postcards, books and gift articles for you to buy.

www.tassenmuseum.nl