Month: August 2023

Here is Red Riding Hood and the Wolf pictured on a metal button. It has a very decorative border. I think this is a fairly common picture button as it is in several button books. The detail in the scene is quite good.

This metal picture button is named Waving Goodbye and as the name suggests it depicts a lady dressed up with her hat on by the balcony waving her handkerchief. It is a brass button with a japanned back and a loop shank. It measures 3 cm.

These two groups of buttons are also from The Button Shop in Malvern. They have one wall of boxes of buttons and it is fun searching through them. The staff were very friendly and obliging in helping a button collector choose some treasures. These groups are mainly plastic and some metal and combinations. I was very pleased with my purchases but haven’t been there since 2018.

This button was bought new from China in 2018. It is of a metal which has been enamelled in dark brown and has amber stones scrolling around it. The large stone in the centre is also amber. It is hollow and has an open worked back and loop shank and is quite heavy. It is very showy and measures 3 1/2 cm.

Here is another group of new buttons from The Button Shop in Malvern. All being black they make a nice display. They are of different materials including two large leatherette, black glass with gold lustre, wound cord centred in plastic and various others.

These three groups of buttons were bought new at The Button Shop, Malvern between 2011 and 2018. While holidaying in Melbourne my nephew Graeme took me to this Button Specialist Shop on three different occasions. The buttons are all imported and are of fine quality; much better than the buttons in our local shops in Shepparton. They are of different materials and varying designs, shapes and sizes. I have them all in a nice wooden box and every time I look at them I am impressed.

I bought these buttons new at The Button Shop in Malvern in 2012. They had a lovely selection and said they were mainly imported from Italy, Germany and Switzerland. They are of black plastic of some sort and have been etched into to make up the grey areas and then decorated with diamantes. The quality is very good. The left one is actually the biggest at a little under 4 cm and the other one is 3 cm. They have a self shank.

These three plastic buttons are modern and show a floral design which resembles the Art Nouveau style. They all are black but with purple, white and red combination which makes them look different. The designs are etched into the black. They are all sew through type and measure a little over 3 cm so are quite a nice size.

Here is a group of Lithograph buttons with portraits one being a lady. They are varying sizes and have different borders which makes them interesting. I can’t imagine wearing these buttons but guess they showed status in their time.

Here are two glass Chinese Lantern buttons. The green one has writing on it while the orange one is perfectly plain apart from the silver lustre trim. They are a little different, have a self shank and measure approximately 2 cm.