This bag, which Richard Rutt labels “Sion Pattern V”, is one of five knitted purses from the 14th century in the treasury of the ancient cathedral at Sion (Sitten) in western Switzerland.

It is approximately 22cm wide and 20.5cm high (9 by 8.5 inches). This bag is missing an unknown amount at the bottom. It is knitted from the top down. The drawstrings are run in and out through the stitches of the top band. There is also a carrying strap; both strap and drawstrings are fingerloop braids.

As Rutt describes it, “Each band is composed of identical shields, with a small star at the bottom of the space between each two shields. The bands of shields are staggered by a lateral half-drop; each carries a bird. The bands alternate: one band of beige with the shields outlined and decorated in blue, one band of red with shields in green; all bands counter-changed with stripes across the middle of the shields in which the colors are reversed.** The bands of shields are separated by a narrow saw-tooth design in violet and white.” The purse as it stands has 6 rows of shields, and laid flat it is 9.5 motifs wide.

At the top is a band of diagonal stripes.

No pattern in book. Chart only (Rutt 1987 edition p. 51). The chart is approximate and does not include the top and bottom bands.

** The colors in Rutt’s description are inaccurately placed. The colors include white.

This purse is also found in Brigitta Schmedding, Mittelalterliche Textilien in Kirchen und Klöstern der Schweiz where it is Catalog No. 270.