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Source Description
Luxurious personal objects were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Especially popular were <em>étuis</em>, small ornamented cases containing miniature sewing, writing, or grooming implements that hung at a woman’s waist from an ornate clasp, known as a <em>chatelaine</em>. Despite its glittering surface, this small expensive set disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or the shop where it was made.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
96568
label
Chatelaine and Case (Étui)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
96568
contentType
object
title
Chatelaine and Case (Étui)
description
Luxurious personal objects were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Especially popular were <em>étuis</em>, small ornamented cases containing miniature sewing, writing, or grooming implements that hung at a woman’s waist from an ornate clasp, known as a <em>chatelaine</em>. Despite its glittering surface, this small expensive set disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or the shop where it was made.
date
c. 1770
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79479681
genreSpecific
Miscellaneous
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.)
cul
England, 18th century
accession
1916.313
Source extras
tec
gray agate mounted in gilt metal
tombstone
Chatelaine and Case (Étui), c. 1770. England, 18th century. Gray agate mounted in gilt metal; overall: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade, 1916.313
collection
Decorative Arts
didYouKnow
Stored inside this case are grooming and writing instruments such as a clasp knife, scissors, an ivory tablet, a pencil, a threading needle used for lacing corsets, and an ear scoop.
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:11:59.842000
sourceId
96568
dept
Decorative Art and Design
coll
Decorative Arts
med
gray agate mounted in gilt metal
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a5cf64a49491fc82