All things buttons & more …
Here is a trio of Darian glass buttons designed and made by Grant Featherston, a well known Melbourne designer jointly with his wife Claire. They were made during the period 1946 to 1950s. The brass backplate and loop are glued onto the back of the button and are marked with the trademark DARIAN and G.F.D standing for Grant Featherston Designs. Sometimes they are also unmarked.
Here are two Cut Steel buttons which are quite different. One is of white metal with a three leaf design and four cut steels. The other is of brass with a star shape encircling a flower. It has six cut steels surrounding it. They both have a loop shank.
This Gay Nineties button is of open work brass with a bright green stone. It is quite chunky and really domed which is a bit unusual. It measures 2 1/2 cm.
Here is a group of Ceramic buttons which are rather chunky. They have all been glazed in black and then decorated with gold. A couple have the look of black glass until you look at their chunkiness and the backs. I guess they would have been used on some type of jacket.
I made these two embroidered fabric buttons quite a few years ago. It was a bit of a craze of mine at the time and I made several just for fun. You buy the moulds at the Haberdashery shop. Years ago when ladies made their own clothes they used to make their own buttons out of the same fabric too. Just another sign of the times.
This Japanese Satsuma button is just a little different as it shows a Geisha girl looking through what I think is a doorway. It has a lot of orange and gold which is a good combination and black accents making a rather nice button.
This is a Perspex button with tiny artificial flowers in purple and yellow embedded in it. It is square and has been angled back on the sides as can be seen on the back view. It has a brass loop shank and measures a little under 2 cm. It is rather quaint I think.
Here is my stash of black buttons which have been bought new over the last say 15years. I do not buy so many these days but used to quite regularly go to the haberdashery store and check out their buttons. You could just buy one from a tube. Nowadays at Spotlight they have packs of 2 or 4 and you have to buy the pack and they are expensive now. These are a variety of materials and designs. I visit a friend each Saturday morning and take buttons to show her. She loves to study their designs and really enjoys them which makes me feel good too. I have quite a nice collection of “new” buttons and keep them in a special set of drawers.
Here is a group of four handmade porcelain buttons made by Tracey Sharkey in 2007. They feature a variety of flowers or part thereof which is sort of fascinating. I believe they are transfer printed. I have several sets of her buttons and have bought them at Art Galleries.
This is an open work brass button depicting a daisy. It is a sort of in the Art Nouveau style. The brass has been tinted green which makes it a little different. It measures a little under 3 cm.