Skip to product information
1 of 16

SW Curated

Vintage MM Kane Black Beaded Sequin Clutch, 1960s Hand-Beaded Evening Bag, Floral Star Burst Pattern, Scholar Estate Cocktail Purse

Vintage MM Kane Black Beaded Sequin Clutch, 1960s Hand-Beaded Evening Bag, Floral Star Burst Pattern, Scholar Estate Cocktail Purse

Regular price $85.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $85.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Quantity
✦ Vintage MM Kane Black Beaded & Sequin Evening Clutch — 1960s ✦

A beautiful mid-century cocktail clutch by MM Kane (M.M. Kane) — one of
the most recognized labels in vintage hand-beaded evening bags, produced
in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s. These clutches were sold through
American department stores and worn at galas, weddings, holiday parties,
and formal dinners throughout the post-war era.

This piece features a stunning all-over hand-beaded and sequined surface
with raised "starburst" or floral medallion motifs in jet-black bugle
beads, set against a base of cupped black sequins layered with tiny seed
beads. The combination creates a richly textured, light-catching surface
that shimmers beautifully under evening light.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ PROVENANCE — THE SCHOLAR'S ESTATE COLLECTION ✦

This clutch comes from the estate of a scholarly Pacific Northwest
couple — the husband a historian with degrees from a leading East Coast
university, the wife a graduate of the University of Paris in French
Language and Civilization. A piece like this would have been carried
to formal university functions, faculty receptions, and evenings out
in Cambridge, Paris, or Seattle during the 1960s — quietly elegant,
beautifully made, and a perfect match for the cultivated tastes of its
original owner.

This is part of an ongoing curated release from the same estate.
Please follow SWCurated to see other pieces from "The Scholar's Estate
Collection."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ DATING & AUTHENTICATION ✦

Multiple period-correct details confirm a 1960s production date:

- "MM KANE" maker's mark stamped on the snap closure (clearly legible)
- "Made in Hong Kong" construction typical of MM Kane's 1950s-60s output
- YKK-marked interior zipper — YKK opened its first US office in New
York in 1960, and YKK zippers became standard in American-imported
Hong Kong goods through the 1960s, dating this piece firmly to that
decade
- Hand-finished beaded edge trim throughout (a hallmark of higher-end
Hong Kong beadwork before mass-production techniques took over in
the 1970s)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ DESIGN DETAILS ✦

- All-over hand-beaded and sequined construction (front, back, and gusset)
- Raised three-dimensional starburst/floral motifs in bugle beads on
both sides — the front features a single large central medallion,
the back features five smaller scattered motifs
- Beaded edge trim along all seams — a beautiful hand-finishing detail
- Black satin flap interior
- Branded snap closure marked "MM KANE"
- Black satin lining with interior zip pocket (a higher-quality feature
not seen on all MM Kane clutches)
- YKK-marked interior zipper, fully functional

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ DIMENSIONS ✦

- Width: approximately 8.75" (22 cm)
- Height: approximately 4.25" (11 cm) folded
- Depth: approximately 0.5" (1.5 cm) — designed as a slim formal clutch
- Weight: 5 oz (140 g)

Holds the essentials — phone, lipstick, ID, cards, small compact,
tissue. True to vintage clutch proportions.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ CONDITION ✦

Excellent vintage condition with beautiful preservation:

- All beadwork and sequins remain intact and securely attached — no
significant losses
- Snap closure works firmly and the "MM KANE" maker's mark is clearly
legible
- Interior YKK zipper functions smoothly
- Satin lining shows minor surface marks from age and gentle past use
(see photos) — does not affect functionality
- Light wear to the inside flap edges (typical for clutches of this age)
- No tears, no holes, no odors
- From a smoke-free home

A well-preserved example of a classic mid-century beaded clutch, ready
to be carried again or displayed as a vintage fashion piece.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ ABOUT MM KANE ✦

MM Kane (also marked "M.M. Kane" or "Kane M") was an American importer
of hand-beaded evening bags manufactured in Hong Kong during the 1950s
and 1960s — a golden era for hand-beadwork when skilled Hong Kong
artisans produced thousands of intricate beaded clutches for the
American formal-wear market. MM Kane bags were sold in upscale
department stores and remain prized by vintage fashion collectors today
for their quality construction, dense beadwork, and signature
snap-closure maker's mark.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ PERFECT FOR ✦

- Vintage and mid-century fashion collectors
- Black-tie weddings, galas, holiday parties
- Gatsby / Art Deco / Old Hollywood themed events
- Cocktail attire and Little Black Dress styling
- Wedding "something old" tradition
- Display as a vintage fashion piece

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ SHIPPING & HANDLING ✦

- Shipped via USPS Ground Advantage with tracking
- Carefully wrapped in tissue and bubble mailer to protect beadwork
- Processing time: 3-5 business days
- International shipping available — please contact for a quote
- Sold as-is from a smoke-free home

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ FROM THE SAME ESTATE ✦

A pair of vintage Japanese Kamakura-bori carved wood plaques, signed
by the artist Harada Sōzan, is also available from this estate — please
visit our shop to see other listings from "The Scholar's Estate
Collection."

✦ Thank you for visiting SWCurated — where each piece carries its story. ✦
View full details