Located in Amsterdam's historic central canal belt,[2] the museum's collection included over 5,000 items dating back to the sixteenth-century.

[3][4] The Museum of Bags and Purses was the first cultural institution in the Netherlands to announce its permanent closure in April 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The first Museum of Bags and Purses consisted of two rooms in the Ivos' own house in Amstelveen, where it remained for ten years.

The highlights of the museum's collection were on permanent display on the second and third floors, whilst the lower levels were used for temporary exhibitions.

In March of 2019, the museum announced it had hired Manon Schaap as director,[11] following the retirement of Sigrid Ivo a year earlier.

A graduate of ArtEZ, Schaap began her career as a creative director in Paris at the trendforcasting office of Lidewij Edelkoort, before collaborating with designer Jil Sander for several years and establishing her own studio in 1998.

[13] The museum closed its doors in line with the Dutch lockdown restrictions responding to the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

In April, director Manon Schaap announced this closure would be permanent, as the museum was facing insurmountable financial pressure.

In a press statement published on the museum's website, Schaap wrote: "Unfortunately, insufficient financial resources in the form of subsidies and sponsorship have been found for our long-term future.

On the Herengracht, it formed part of the 'Grachtengordel', the ring of canals at the centre of Amsterdam that was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.

He also served as an Amsterdam city councillor, as well as being the brother-in-law and advisor of the famous statesman Johan de Witt, and together with his wife moved in the highest circles of the Dutch Republic.

The central panel depicts a woman representing the city of Amsterdam, surrounded by allegorical representations of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

By that time, the De Graeff family had accumulated a substantial fortune, through inheritance and trading with the Dutch East Indies.

Together with like-minded people she founded the "Amsterdamsche Huishoudschool", a school to train women in housework, intended for both housewives and those who wished to become professional housekeepers.

A year later, the building was sold to the Hollandsche Brand Assurantie Sociëteit and was occupied by a number of different businesses throughout the twentieth-century.

The number of bags owned by men notably declines after the introduction of pockets to menswear in the sixteenth century.

The museum also displayed a number of pouches from the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century intended for use by both men and women at the gambling table.

These pouches can be distinguished by their wide mouths and stiffened bases, which ensured that the bags could stand upright, displaying any winnings prominently within.

The earliest reticules bear a close relation in shape to the tied pocket, but as can be seen in the museum's nineteenth-century display, styles and fashions changed rapidly throughout the period.

With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, technology and the growth of the railways made travel accessible to the burgeoning middle class.