Coin Purse

Art Historical Context

**Coin Purse** by Gladys Cook, created around 1936, is a rendering from the Index of American Design (IAD), a New Deal-era project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). in 1935, the IAD employed artists across the U.S. to meticulously document everyday American folk art, crafts, and design through precise watercolor drawings. Cook's work captures the humble elegance of a coin purse, the ingenuity of vernacular American craftsmanship during the Great Depression. Rendered in watercolor and graphite on paperboard (29.1 x 22.9 cm), the piece showcases the IAD's signature technique: graphite for fine lines and structural accuracy, overlaid with translucent watercolor washes to evoke texture, pattern, and subtle color variations. This method preserved the purse's decorative motifs and form with documentary fidelity, transforming a utilitarian item into an artistic study. As part of the National Gallery of Art's collection, this artwork underscores the cultural value of ordinary objects in shaping American identity. It celebrates the anonymous makers of such accessories, offering visitors a window into 19th- and early 20th-century domestic life and the WPA's vital role in supporting artists while safeguarding heritage.

About the Artist

Gladys Cook · 1855–present

Gladys Cook was an American illustrator and commercial artist whose work appeared widely in popular magazines and books during the mid-twentieth century. She is particularly remembered for her contributions to the world of children's illustration and her facility with a range of print media, producing images that were at once technically polished and warmly accessible to broad audiences. Cook's s...