By Joanne Hamilton, Documentation Officer (Irish Folklife), National Museum of Ireland
An eye-catching, ornately decorated object with an interesting provenance caught the attention of Documentation Officer Joanne Hamilton - she has searched the files to find out more about it.
Description of the flint purse
This small leather purse or pouch is 8.8 cm in length and is 4 cm deep, it has a green leather exterior with red interior (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). The outer flap of the purse is adorned with an ornate panel in cut out brass, 8.35 cm long and 2.9 cm wide depicting two opposed dragon like animals, each with one front paw resting on a ball.
On top of the purse is a brass panel with a u-shaped suspension loop. The lower edge of the purse has a curved steel panel riveted on, 9.8 cm in greatest length and 7 mm in greatest width, it is 4 mm in thickness. The panel is held in place by a brass binding strip of 4 mm in width.
On the interior there is a leather pocket inside of which is a small piece of flint stone that would have been used to create a spark.
What was this object used for?
A range of materials have been used throughout time to create fire; initially basic materials such as wood or flint were rubbed together creating friction that would then ignite dry tinder. Later, metal fire steels such as the one in Fig. 3, enabled a fire to be started more effectively through percussion – flint or other stone was struck against the metal surface of the fire steel, causing hot oxidising particles to be produced. (Science Museum Group).
Fire steels, as the name suggests, were formed from steel that was curved into a c-shape with one elongated striking side and 2 terminals. These sometimes formed a complete circle or were decorated in some way; they were portable and shaped to fit neatly into the user’s hand. Fire steels were common objects, used widely in many parts of the world until the use of matches became commonplace.
Purses like this one were used to carry around fire starting materials such as the flint contained in this example (Fig. 4) and sometimes fire steels. As well as being useful for transporting these materials on the go, the purse also helped keep them dry which facilitated fire starting out in the open against the elements. The flint would be struck against the steel panel on the purse to ignite combustible tinder.
Asian Provenance
According to the Science Museum Group, decorated leather purses with metal striking plates, similar to this one, were in use in North Asia, China and Japan from the 17th century onwards, they have been particularly associated with Tibet (Fig. 5). The objects have been previously known by the colonial name Chuckmuck, but are now referred to as Menchang pouches, and are seen today across museum collections in Europe. They were potentially picked up by travellers to the East as small portable tokens and brought back to Europe, before making their way into museum collections.
Where did this object come from?
This example was donated to the National Museum in the early 1950s by Ada St. Ledger Vere Hunt. Mrs. St. Ledger Vere Hunt was the daughter of military captain George Durdin of Shangarry Castle, Cloyn, Co. Cork, she had previously donated a collection of her father’s military papers in the 1940s. That event is recorded in an article by the Irish Independent in 1940 (Fig. 6) which states that the Regimental papers “relate to the Irish Brigade in the French Service” and that they were inherited by Mrs. St. Ledger Vere from her father.
While the exact circumstance of how she had the flint purse in her possession are not documented, we could surmise that it was possibly acquired by her father on his travels for military service and bought back to Ireland as a souvenir of sorts where it eventually ended up as part of the collection of the National Museum of Ireland.
Note:
This object is in the reserve collection of The Irish Folklife Division where it makes up part of our extensive collection of lighting and fire-related objects in storage. You can find out more about similar objects at Hearth and Home | Country Life | National Museum of Ireland.
References
Science Museum Group. (2025) Mechang pouch(chuckmuck) Tibet. [online]. Available from: Mechang pouch (chuckmuck), Tibet | Science Museum Group Collection Accessed 29/08/2025.
Science Museum Group. (2025) Ways of Catching a Spark: A History of Fire-Making Methods [online]. Available from: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/ways-catching-spark-history-fire-making-methods Accessed 27/08/2025.
The Irish Brigade in France Papers for the Museum. The Irish Independent, (12/01/1940). [online]. Available from: https://archive.irishnewsarchive.com/olive/APA/INA.Edu/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=IND%2F1940%2F01%2F12&id=Ar01019&sk=69D89239&viewMode=image Accessed 02/09/2025.
