According to the donor, this hat-pin in its original presentation box, the lid stamped wih the initials 'S.B'. was owned in the 1940s by the nanny who had once worked in France for the actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1922). She gave it to her friend Ethel Ellen Robinson, known as 'Nanny Robie', who was a nanny in France during the war. Nanny Robie brought it to England during World War II when her employers feared for their lives during the German occupation of Paris and asked her to take their children to their grandparents in England. She became nurse for the donor's late mother and housekeeper for the donor's grandfather, and subsequently the second wife of the donor's father who married when he was in his 80s. She gave the hat pin to her step-daughter and husband who presented it to the museum. Its simple geometric Art Deco style that originated in the 1920s, means that it would have been own and won by Bernhardt during the latter years of her life.

Hatpins were a very popular item during the 19th century when ladies neefed their large hats securing. They remained a standard women's accessory through the 1910s and were produced in a vast range of materials and types, some produced with presentation boxes.