Product Description
One-inch (1:12) scale dollhouse miniature, brass chatelaine. Approximately 3/4" long by 1/4" wide (widest point). Made in the USA.
According to Wikipedia "A chatelaine is a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it. Each chain is mounted with useful household appendages such as scissors, thimbles, watches, keys, vinaigrette, and household seals.[1]
Ancient Roman women wore chatelaines with ear scoops, nail cleaners, and tweezers.[2] Women in Roman Britain wore 'chatelaine brooches' from which toilet sets were suspended.[3]
The remnants of chatelaines and chatelaine bags have been found in the graves of females in the seventh and eighth century in the United Kingdom. Often found with the chatelaine artifacts would be wire rings, beads, buckles, knives and tools.[4]
Chatelaine bags refer to bags suspended from a waistband by cord or chain, which were popular from the 1860s to the end of the 19th century.[5]
Chatelaines were worn by many housekeepers in the 19th century[6] and in the 16th century Dutch Republic,[citation needed] where they were typically used as watch chains for the most wealthy. Similar jewelry was also worn by Anglo-Saxon women, as seen from the burial record, but their function is uncertain.
The name chatelaine derives from the French term châtelaine which meant the mistress of a chateau. She would have worn a belt for her keys, which the current meaning of chatelaine derives from [7]."