Paperblanks Thai Gems Cotton Tote Bag

Carry your journals, books and everyday essentials in style with this Thai Gems cotton tote bag from Paperblanks, featuring a handy inner zip pocket.

The Far East has always captured the eye of French photographer, architect, and writer Gérard Degeorge. This colourful piece of inlay artistry comes from a photograph taken during his many decades spent travelling and seeking out unique cultural artworks to capture on film.

The Story Behind the Design

Classical decorative inlay art includes intricately carved floral patterns and entwining geometric shapes embedded with finely coloured precious and semiprecious stones. This cover design is a fine example of these hallmarks of the inlay decorative technique and was captured by the renowned travel and architecture photographer Gérard Degeorge.

Degeorge has spent much of his career travelling the world and photographing its artistic riches. Particularly enraptured with Eastern and Islamic art, Degeorge’s globetrotting has led him to capture some of the most distinctive glazed and brightly coloured tiling the world has to offer. He has accumulated a vast collection of nearly 50,000 slides from his travels, one photograph from which we have reproduced for our Thai Gems design.

We originally released this Thai Gems design in Spring 2003 as part of our Intricate Inlays series. We are delighted to bring this unique example of inlay artistry back to the Paperblanks collection for Fall 2025. Perhaps some of Degeorge’s passion for the art and culture of the Arab-Muslim world will inspire you to document the wonders of your own travels.

• Original artwork: Photograph by Gérard Degeorge
• Era: Modern photograph of ancient architecture
• Region: Far East

Product Details

• Dimensions: 380 × 380 × 90 mm
• Design: Thai Gems
• Series: Intricate Inlays
• Material: Cotton
• Inner zipper pocket size: 220 × 155 mm
• Strap Colour: Cream with dot
• Holds up to 7 kilograms (approximately 15.5 lbs)
• Durable strap for carrying the bag over one's shoulder
• Branded Paperblanks tag
• Artwork credit printed on inside of the bag
• Weight: 260 g
• Product code: PA1392-2 | ISBN: 9780349713922

About Paperblanks

Paperblanks works with museums, libraries, galleries and artists around the world to faithfully reproduce remarkable artwork, historic bindings and treasured manuscripts, bringing the same care and craftsmanship found in its celebrated journals to every accessory.