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Chatelaine
Unknown - Enlarge image
Chatelaine
- Place of origin:
France (made)
- Date:
early 19th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Cut steel
- Credit Line:
Pfungst Reavil Bequest
- Museum number:
M.32:1 to 13-1969
- Gallery location:
In Storage
A chatelaine would have hung from a lady’s waist and was intended to be both decorative and practical. The small tools and accessories that might be incorporated included a watch, scissors, tweezers, magnifying glass, scent flask and miniature notebook or ivory writing tablet.
Cut steel was a fashionable material for jewellery, buttons, buckles, sword hilts and watch chains in the decades around 1800. They were made from brightly polished rivets, their ends faceted to imitate diamonds. Such pieces gave a grey but powerful glitter. Originally an English speciality, the production of cut steel had spread to other centres in Europe by the early 19th century.
The crowned monogram decorating the hook-plate has not been identified.
