WHAT TO COLLECT NOW: VINTAGE SEWING CHATELAINES
The ornate waistband adornments that Victorian women wore to their sewing clubs are today highly desirable antiques. Called sewing chatelaines, these jewelry-like sets consist of a sterling silver or cut-steel chain and clip, plus five or more dangling chains each holding a sewing tool.

“There would usually be a scissors, thimble, needle case, and stiletto (for punching through fabric),” says antiques dealer Bunny Gorfinkle, of Marblehead, Massachusetts (www.bunnys-place.com). Gorfinkle has found sewing chatelaines dating from 1810 to 1910, but says the heyday was 1840 to 1880. Some chatelaines were also made of leather, fabric, or silverplate. Prices range from $700 to $2,200.

Sewing chatelaines became status symbols during the 1800s, and were cherished by women, particularly in England, who were meeting to socialize and do needlework—tapestries and the like. A chatelaine—which is the French word for mistress of the house—can also hold glasses, watches, or keys.

The more ornate sewing chatelaines are made of sterling silver and feature cherubs, cupids, nymphs, and other romantic motifs. In the 1860s, chatelaines were more often found in cut-steel and in less ornate patterns, to correspond with Queen Victoria’s simplified tastes during the period when she was mourning the death of Prince Albert.

Most of the sewing chatelaines that Gorfinkle sees are English or French; American versions are rare.

Gorfinkle says collectors often hang the chatelaines as artwork or display them on felt in flat drawers. Although Gorfinkle was part of a group antiques shop in Salem, Massachusetts, for nearly 20 years, she no longer has a shop, preferring to do shows instead. And her interest in all types of sewing items—she has an extensive array of antique tape measures, for examples—stems from a personal interest. “I have always done handiwork,” says this former schoolteacher. “The only thing I never mastered was tatting.”

For more information about sewing chatelaines, look for the book Chatelaines: Utility to Glorious Extravagance, by Genevieve E. Cummins and Nerylla D. Taunton (Antique Collectors Club, 1994).