Dear list members,

I have an artifact identification question that I am in hopes someone can
answer or point me in the direction of an answer. (There is an interesting
story behind this piece and involves Al Gore, but that is for another
message).  I am attaching at the bottom of this message a link to a picture of
a chain that is hanging in the basement of an antebellum mansion in Carthage,
Tennessee. The chain is about one foot long and has a plate with three holes
on one end. The plate is attached to a swivel. The link attaching the plate is
folded over on one side, it is not a molded link like the others, though this
is not apparent in the picture. The chain ends in a loop that is larger than
the links, it is about 2 inches across (sorry there is no scale in the photo)

The question is the date range of this kind of object and what it would have
been used for. What is the date when swivels for chains began being
manufactured? Would this have been for hanging something in the basement or
used on the plantation is an agricultural implement etc? What did the plate on
the end attach to?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

http://www.mtsu.edu/~then/Archeology/chains.jpg

Michael Strutt
Director of Cultural Resources
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department