Rollin --
"Escutcheon" is an old world for a shield, not much used any more, except in heraldry and furniture. The shield of a knight's coat of arms is an escutcheon.
And in furniture, an escutcheon is a small decorative or protective shield or plate, often seen around drawer or door locks and keyholes, or sometimes small corner protectors. Usually there is no practical way to fasten these down except with a something smaller than a screw or nail -- a pin does the job
nicely. So those who need something smaller than a nail of screw when building and repairing canoes benefit from the fact that decorative metal on furniture is often brass.
Greg