1780 Watch on a Chatelaine, Germany. Silver Repousse Verge With four chain chatelaine. via Heritage Auction H.A.com.
Definition Chatelaine: The word Chatelaine is French and means the keeper of the keys. Chatelaine” derives from the Latin word for castle. In Medieval times, the chatelaine was in charge of the day-to-day running of the castle. What did a chatelaine do? Most important task was keeper of the keys. Also ordered supplies, did bookkeeping, supervised servants, taught castle children, and organized guests. books2read.com/SuziLoveChatelaines
By 1700’s, a metal jeweled ornament hung from pockets, attached to belts, or by hooks into skirt waistbands
During 1800’s, women wore large collections of tools hung from chains
Young girls sewed and did needlework and needed to carry sewing notions eg scissors, thimbles
Worn by women of all classes, from workers to nobility
Varied depending on class and finances.
Made of silver, brass, steel, leather, or fabric
During 19th century, fashionable dresses often had no waist and nowhere to hang chatelaines
Chatelaines became decorative brooches
Often given as a wedding present from a husband to bride
Later became fashion accessories.
1780 ca. Watch. Landwing Augsburg
Silver Repousse Verge With Chatelaine. Watch with silver repose outer case and plain inner case, five figure classical scene, scallops in high relief, glass bulls eye crystal, plus four chain chatelaine with key, fob, pencil, and file. via Heritage Auctions
Chatelaine: Set of useful items hung from decorative chains.1780 Watch On Four Chain Chatelaine, Germany. #GeorgianEra #Antiques #Watch #Chatelaine. books2read.com/SuziLoveChatelaines Share on XChatelaines and Chains History Notes Book 9 By Suzi Love. #regency Women in charge of houses wore long chains holding important household items around their waist e.g. keys, pen, notebook, sewing. books2read.com/SuziLoveChatelaines
Craftsmen created containers of precious metals, leather, and silks and decorated them with jewels and engraving. Jane Austen and her contemporaries would have used writing boxes, linen boxes when travelling, boxes to hold their food and drink supplies while traveling by carriage, and decorative boxes to keep letters, ribbons, gloves, hairpins etc. Boxes, Cases, and Necessaires By Suzi Love, History Notes Book 11. books2read.com/suziloveBoxesCases.
1562-1575 ca. Wine Cooler With a Pageant Battle with Elephants, Italian. Maiolica, or tin-glazed earthenware, from the workshop of the Fontana family. 1553-1580. Coolers were set near the table on a credenza or sideboard, visible to diners and within easy reach of servants. They are designed to be viewed from any side, but especially from above when empty. When not in use, coolers remained in place to convey the owner’s refined taste and, due to the relatively inexpensive medium, personal modesty.via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
1562-1575 ca. Wine Cooler With a Pageant Battle with Elephants, Italian.
Maiolica, or tin-glazed earthenware, from the workshop of the Fontana family. 1553-1580.
Coolers were set near the table on a credenza or sideboard, visible to diners and within easy reach of servants. They are designed to be viewed from any side, but especially from above when empty. When not in use, coolers remained in place to convey the owner’s refined taste and, due to the relatively inexpensive medium, personal modesty.via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org1562-1575 ca. Wine Cooler With a Pageant Battle with Elephants, Italian. #Italy #Antiques #History Share on X
18th Century Late. Inkstand, Sheffield, England. Square, resting on four ball feet, the top pierced with four circular holes into which fit two inkwells, a pounce box and a box for wafers. Silver inkstands appeared in Britain in 17th century and included pot, or well, for ink, plus another pot with pierced cover held ‘pounce’ or sand, which writers scattered over paper to fix ink. Wafers to seal finished letter and tray to hold pens or quills. collections.vam.ac.uk
18th Century Late. Inkstand, Sheffield, England. Square, resting on four ball feet, the top pierced with four circular holes into which fit two inkwells, a pounce box and a box for wafers. Silver inkstands appeared in Britain in 17th century and included pot, or well, for ink, plus another pot with pierced cover held ‘pounce’ or sand, which writers scattered over paper to fix ink. Wafers to seal finished letter and tray to hold pens or quills. collections.vam.ac.uk 18th Century Late Square Inkstand With Pounce Pot, Sheffield, England. #GeorgianEra #amwriting #BritishHistory books2read.com/SuziLoveWritingTools Share on XHN_13_D2D_Writing Tools
books2read.com/SuziLoveWritingTools
What did the lady of the house use to pen notes In Jane Austen’s lifetime? What sat on the desk of Jane Austen’s male contemporaries when they managed household and estate accounts? books2read.com/SuziLoveWritingTools. Writing Tools, History Notes Book 13.
1863 Traveler’s Chest, French. Sewing Tools, Ruby Perfume, Aide de Memoire or Notebook, etc. Inside lid with theatre curtains. via Ruby Lane Antiques. rubylane.com
19th Century Snuff Boxes. Not only were boxes made to serve a purpose, but decorative boxes of all types were prized, especially in the 18th-19th Centuries when everything decorative and extravagant was in vogue and taking a pinch of snuff was fashionable. Snuff is made from ground or pulverized tobacco leaves and is sniffed from a pinch of snuff placed on the back of the hand.Flavorings were added to the tobacco to give a fast hit of nicotine and a lasting scent. Snuff began in the Americas and was used in Europe by the 17th Century.
Snuff became popular from the mid 1600s to the mid 1800s and was more popular than smoking. Inhaling snuff, or snuffing, was first seen by a European missionary in 1493 in Christopher Columbus’s new world within Haiti’s indigenous Taino. Until then, tobacco had been unknown to Europeans, but its use spread quickly throughout Europe during the 1500s. By the second half of the 17th century, ornate boxes started being produced to keep the precious powder dry and an entire industry making accessories blossomed around the fashion of taking snuff. Noblemen, and some women, carried extravagantly decorated snuff boxes with them at all times and would offer a pinch of their own particular blend to friends and family. Therefore, these boxes were always on display and so it became a competition to see who could have the most bejeweled or expensive box possible. By the mid 1800s, snuff taking was no longer popular so these exquisite and expensive snuff boxes became decorative, rather than functional.
19th Century Shoe Snuffbox. via 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com19th Century Engraved Horn Snuffbox. Heart surrounded by flowers and leaves, sides with dove, symbol of purity and peace, brass hinge and setting. via suzilove.com and 1st Dibs Auctions19th Century Carved Boxwood Snuffbox. Horse with saddle for a lid. via 1st Dibs Auctions
1804-1809 ca. Snuffbox in the Shape of A Lion, Moulinie, Bautte and Cie, Geneva, Switzerland.via Victoria and Albert Museum.1820 Snuffbox with scene of harvesting fruit. By Johann Wilhelm Keibel (master 1812; died 1862). via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org1810 ca. Jeweled Gold Snuff Box, Switzerland. Maker’s Mark Geneva. via Christie’s Auction Rooms. christies.com 19th Century Taking Snuff and Pretty Snuff Boxes In Bridgerton and Jane Austen Years. #bridgerton #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #Antiques https://www.books2read.com/suziloveBoxesCases Share on X
1725-1730 ca. Gold Double-Opening Snuffbox, France. Two tortoiseshell pique panels and two miniatures inside, of Louis XV of France and his wife Marie Leczinska. Made by Jean Baptiste Massé, painter.
Varicolored gold seascape of dolphin and ship with beach littered with shells and rocks, plus ruins, birds, and an island. Inside the box are miniature portraits of Louis XV of France and his wife Marie Leczinska. It has been suggested that the box commemorates the birth of the ‘dauphin’ Louis in 1729, the royal couple’s fourth child, and first son, heir to the throne. A few elements contradict this suggestion: the dolphin does not bear any regal symbol such as a crown, the marks that date the box indicate that it was initiated before the birth of Louis, when the arrival of a son was unknown. It is most probable that these delicate panels, together with the miniature of Louis XV, date from 1725-1730 and have been associated later into this gold snuffbox, and a later miniature of Queen Marie Leczinska.The miniature of the king may have been painted by Jean-Baptiste Massé – he is recorded as supplying miniatures of the king for boxes intended as diplomatic gifts from 1720-26-, or by his lesser known contemporary Jean-Baptiste Ducanel.
The lid is hinged to reveal a miniature, under glass, of Marie Leczinska, queen of France, probably 19th century or heavily restored, wearing a cloak of blue embroidered with gold fleurs-de-lis and lined with ermine overa lace-trimmed dress of red embroidered with gold. In the base is a panel of tortoiseshell pique with a cornucopia of small shells, also hinged to reveal a contemporary miniature of Louis XV of France in armour, wearing a whitestock and the sash of the Order of the Holy Ghost. The gold box, probably early 19th century or later, has plain walls, reeded borders, and a double thumbpiece.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world’s great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Snuff Boxes: Decorative boxes of all types were prized, especially in the 18th Century when everything decorative and extravagant was in vogue and taking a pinch of snuff was fashionable. Snuff is made from ground or pulverized tobacco leaves, flavorings added, and then a pinch of snuff is placed on the back of the hand and sniffed.