Equipage:
18th Century Chatelaines

Extant 18th century chatelaines

Met 32.100.316, gold, enamel, and diamonds, British, 18th century

Louvre OA 8027, a watch and chatelaine in silver and gold with diamonds, jasper, and rubies, London, c. 1725-1750

V&A M.433 to B-1911, England or Germany, c. 1730; “Pinchbeck chatelaine chased with figures probably representing Apollo and Minerva, incorporating scissors and pen” with shagreen case

V&A M.275-1975, England, 1730-1735; “Pinchbeck chatelaine incorporating scissors case, needle case, etui and two thimble cases”

Colonial Williamsburg 1952-601,A, a watch with chatelaine, London, 1740-1741; “Paircase watch; pinchbeck outer case with repousse scene of classical figures; gold inner case; dust cap; verge movement with pierced silver cock, diamond capstone, and squared baluster pillars. Pinchbeck chatelaine with repousse and pierced ornament and two pendants holding watch key and two seals. Survives with shaped, black shagreen case lined with red velvet.”

London Museum 62.121/99, c. 1740-1770; “This chatelaine is composed of a decorative clasp, from which are suspended a chain of three decorative plaques with hooks attached; and two small flasks for holding perfume or thimbles … This example is decorated in the rococo style, with openwork scrolls and flowers.”

Louvre R 418, a watch and chatelaine with floral enamel plaques, 1735-1750 France

London Museum A15627, steel chatelaine with enamel plaques

Met 17.190.1450, a watch (made by John Rich) and chatelaine in agate, gold, diamonds, rubies, and enamel, London, c. 1740

V&A M.307-1919, a gold chatelaine, England, c. 1740-1760

London Museum A16348, copper-gilt with enamel (Limoges?) decoration

Philadelphia Museum of Art 1964-130-1, a silver chatelaine hook, Philadelphia, 1748

MFA 51.653, equipage (chatelaine) with central etui and two appendages, England, c. 1750; “In this example, the belt hook and dependent plaques are cast in relief and feature Erotes figures and goddesses in Classical garb arranged in asymmetric cartouches. Flanking these elements are hinged, oval boxes made of hammered sheet metal decorated with ornamental swags and shells. Now empty, the boxes may once have held a thimble and thread. The main component of the equipage is the etui which is suspended from a swivel hoop and embellished on both sides. Depicted on the front is a seated woman in an idyllic garden reading a book while Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom and patron of the arts, is shown seated in an outdoor setting on reverse. Inside the etui are various gilt-metal implements, including a miniature spoon; a folding knife whose handle is adorned with raised-relief flowers; a pick; and a small scoop. Several utensils are now missing and it is likely that one was a tiny fork.”

Louvre OA 6236, painted enamel and gold chatelaine with watch, Paris, mid-18th century

Louvre OA 8394, a gold watch and chatelaine covered in roses, Paris, 1750-1752

Met 35.102a-h, gold and moss agate, British, c. 1750-1760

V&A E.897:72-1988, design for an enamelled and stone-set chatelaine, c. 1755

V&A M.4:1 to 5-2004, gold, chased and embossed, London, 1755-1756; “Gold chatelaine from which are suspended a watch, an étui for snuff containing a spoon and a watchkey, and a further étui … The chatelaine and the watchcase are decorated with figure scenes. On the chatelaine there are scenes from the life of King David as described in the Bible. On the watchcase is a scene of Angelica and Medoro carving their initials in a tree, taken from the epic Orlando Furioso by the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto.”

Manchester 1953.357, a gilt metal repousse chatelaine, 1755-1760

Powerhouse Museum A4959, repousse copper finished in gilt, France, c. 1760

V&A M.16-1932, a gold watch and chatelaine set with topazes and diamonds, Paris, c. 1760

V&A E.897:78-1988, design for the upper section of a chatelaine, Paris, c. 1760 (see also V&A E.897:79-1988 for coordinating watch)

Examples at the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud: 4-2, 8-2, 14-2, 15-2, 17-2, 18-2, 24-2

V&A LOAN:GILBERT.336-2008, a chatelaine and watch with gold and enamel, Vienna, c. 1760; “Suite comprising snuffbox, etui, chatelaine and watch. The oval snuffbox is enamelled en plein with six opaque reserves of flowers painted against a mauve ground, bordered by wreaths of translucent green foliage and blue flowers, all over chased radiating lines and chevrons; a concealed hinge runs across the rear of the cover and the box has a flaring thumbpiece. The etui is of flattened oval section, enamelled en plein with four reserves of fruit, flowers and exotic birds within similar wreaths of translucent green and blue; it contains a knife with one gold and one steel blade, a snuff spoon, a toothpick, an earpick, a propelling pencil, scissors and ivory tablets. The chatelaine is formed as a spray of flowers enamelled in opaque colours with translucent green foliage and tied with translucent blue ribbon in three hinged sections from which hangs a watch painted en suite. Its white enamel dial has Roman hours and Arabic minutes and blued steel hands.”

Philadelphia Museum of Art 1975-140-144, chatelaine with etui, enamel on copper, England, c. 1760-1765

V&A M.261B-1975, England, 1760-1770; “Gold chatelaine decorated with transluscent dark blue enamel flowers and riveted to pinchbeck”

V&A E.897:53-1988, designs for neoclassical chatelaines, Paris, c. 1760-1780

Met 24.80.61a-k, nécessaire and châtelaine in enameled copper, Staffordshire, c. 1760-1780

V&A E.897:74-1988, a design for chatelaine and étui, Paris, c. 1765

Met 49.93.9, a design for an enameled watchcase and chatelaine with mythological figures, c. 1766 (?)

Louvre OA 8390, a gold chatelaine with painted enamel, London, 1767-1768

V&A C.492:1 to 7-1914, gilt metal with painted enamel, West Midlands, c. 1765-1775; “The main element of this chatelaine is an étui, a container fitted with a penknife, a bodkin for threading ribbon through lace, a combined nail-file and tweezers, and a combined toothpick and earscoop. Because these items are a selection from a fairly standard list of étui equipment, it is possible to tell from the shape of the remaining empty slot that this étui once also contained a hinged pair of ivory memorandum leaves (these could be written on, using a pencil). The small egg-shaped screw-top containers known as breloques may have been for small breath-freshening sweets.”

Louvre OA 8607, gilt chatelaine with enamelled pictures of ladies, a watch, and charms, Paris, c. 1767-1800

Louvre R 412, a watch and chatelaine, gold with diamond and enamel, Paris, c. 1767-1800

Louvre OA 8606, a watch and chatelaine, London, 1768-1770

Met 17.190.1439 a-c, a watch and chatelaine, London

V&A M.61-1962, a steel chatelaine with colored gold decoration, England, c. 1770

Louvre OA 8028, a gold and silver and enameled watch and chatelaine, France, 1770

MoL NN2742, c. 1770-1790

Powerhouse Museum 86/1673 and 86/1674, chatelaines with jasper/cut steel mounts, Wedgwood, England, c. 1770-1790

Met 32.75.33, a gold watch and chatelaine with agate, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and carnelian, Regensburg, c. 1775

British Museum 1978,1002.414.a, France, c. 1775-1776; “Three coloured gold and silver chatelaine with applied ornament on the hook-plate in the form of symbols of love, Cupid and doves at an altar with a flaming heart, four cartouches decorated with trophies terminating in a suspension hook with a watch, others with watch-keys, a minute compartmented, engraved writing case decorated with baskets of flowers. Inside the case are ivory writing tablets and a discharge mark. The belt-hook and plate are marked fully marked.”

London Museum 27.17/28, c. 1775-1799

British Museum 1979,0101.1, London, c. 1777-1778; “Gold and enamel cased cylinder watch with dumb quarter-repeat and en-suite chatelaine … Chatelaine with medallions of Roman altar scene, head of Hercules, head of Mercury and a swan, all in neo-classical style.”

Louvre OA 6229, a watch and chatelaine in gold with jasper and agate, Paris, 1778-1779

British Museum 1979,0101.1, a gold chatelaine and quarter-repeating watch, both with painted enamels; “purchased by the eminent physician Sir James Napier in 1779 for £63.10s”

Philadelphia Museum of Art 1964-130-2, a chatelaine hook, Philadelphia, 1780

London Museum 27.17/29, c. 1780

V&A M.268-1975, silver and gold chatelaine with marcasite and red glass pastes, Switzerland, c. 1780

V&A M.60-1962, steel chatelaine with colored gold decorations, Tula, c. 1780

V&A 414:1296-1885, cut-steel beads with blue Wedgwood jasperware and glass, Etruria, c. 1780-1800

V&A M.25-1969 cut steel chatelaine with jasper plaques, Soho, 1785

Met 1984.1175.1 and 1984.1175.4, designs for etuis and chatelaines

Historic New England 1948.128, London, c. 1797; “Gold colored metal (possibly pinchbeck) chatelaine with two miniature paintings on ivory, belt hook is set with an oval miniature depicting a woman in a white dress holding red flowers sitting by an urn and a child or cherub is sitting behind her, the second miniature hangs from three chains from the hook and depicts a woman standing in front of a marble bust on a stand, the second miniature supports four shorter chains (one missing) terminating in loops for the attachment of objects, both miniatures are framed by a row of faceted cut steel beads, cut steel beads are also set on the chains.”

Met 2011.580.1, a chatelaine with a calendar, steel and enameled gold, France, probably late 18th century

Met 32.75.34 ab, gold, enamel, and steel, Swiss (?), late 18th century

British Museum 1978,1002.1167, silver with foiled pastes, England, late 18th century

British Museum 1978,1002.1119, cut-steel, England, late 18th century

British Museum 1978,1002.404, late 18th century. “Three-coloured gold chatelaine with five suspension hooks bearing needlework implements, a pair of scissors with a sheath on a chain, a thimble in a case, a screw-top lid for a missing needle-case, and two egg-shaped compartments with hinged lids. The hook-plate is decorated in applied coloured gold with a scene of a dog mourning at a tomb. The other elements are decorated with applied flowers and trophies on an engraved ground. Three oak leaves and mark on the hook.”