In the days when your pockets were buried under layers of cumbersome fabric (if you had pockets at all), women took a more fashionable approach to keeping their daily tools and necessities quickly accessible -- by wearing a chatelaine!

A more aesthetically pleasing take on today's Swiss Army Knife, a chatelaine is a decorative hook that is worn over a belt or waist sash. Dangling from the hook are a series of chains suspending varied household tools. From watches and keys to scissors and pencils, what a wearer would attach to their chatelaine varied depending on the occasion as well as their overall daily life needs. 

Chatelaines can range in style from simple to ornate; decorative to utilitarian.

Although they have been  worn and utilized since Medieval times, chatelaines saw a fashion resurgence in the latter half of the 19th century thanks in part to Princess Alexandra of Wales (Queen Victoria's daughter-in-law) and her fondness for wearing one.

This highly decorative and intricate piece is a blend of sterling and electroplated nickel silver. 

The two-tiered hook and chains were made in the 1880s by London-based silversmiths and electroplate manufacturers Arthur Elwell Spurrier & Co. It is electroplated nickel silver but is so well-made it polishes like sterling and could fool even the most distinguished eye. 

Dangling from the chains we have a variety of handy tools including:

A turn-of-the-century sterling silver stamp vesta with a flower design. 

A Birmingham sterling silver retractable pencil  (with original pencil inside) made in 1901 by William Vale and Sons.

A sterling silver and bone comb engraved with the initials AHB.

A Birmingham sterling silver and steel button hook made in 1898 by E. S. Barnsley and Co. Ltd.

A sterling silver folding pocket knife made in Germany from the latter half of the 1800s. It is marked but we were unable to identify the maker's mark.