During the World War I campaigns in Sinai and Palestine, prisoners from the Ottoman forces (Turkish) were captured and held in camps or hospitals until the end of the desert battles.
A popular item of their handicraft was beaded objects which would often take the form of animals – with snakes, lizards and frogs being the most produced. These items would be traded for cigarettes, food or medicines and found their way back to New Zealand at the end of the war.
This intricately crafted purse was thought to have been brought back to New Zealand by 12594 Trooper Arthur Douglas Fabian, New Zealand Mounted Rifles.
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