Chatelaine
c. 1880A Chatelaine is a decorative item which is usually worn on the belt of the 'lady of the house' with chains that hold helpful household tools like a pin cushion, coin box, thimble case, scissors holder and notepad. This Chatelaine is made of EPNS and the tools are a notebook "aide memoire," with 3 pages of white solid material, two containers lined with blue velvet; one acorn shaped, the other round that is opened with a press button, a circular roller and a mirror holder.
Chatelaines were popular in the 19th century. 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.
Details
Details
Modern electroplating was invented by Italian Luigi V Brugnatelli in 1805 but the invention was suppressed for many years due to the fear of confusion between plated silver and sterling silver. Electroplating became commonplace after makers agreed to use hall markings e.g. EPNS (Electro Plated Nickel Silver) / EPBM (Electro Plated Britania Metal) to indicate to composition of the metal and differentiate from sterling silver.
The Electroplating process is where a thin layer of sterling silver is deposited electrolytically on a surface of base metal like nickel or britannium (a pewter alloy).
