Month: November 2023

Here is an enamelled brass button with a bright purple background and one small white flower in the middle. The fancy gold border just sets it off nicely. It is not a very big button at a little over 1 1/2cm.

Here are three metal buttons all in the Art Deco style. The designs are straight lined and geometric which is typical of the period. The diamond shaped one is just a little different. The sew through one is a single piece with no backing.

Here is a group of basic coconut shell buttons. It is nice to just see the natural colour and a few have been carved. They would be nice on a natural home spun knitted wool cardigan. They are plentiful and easy to come by.

Here is a nice cameo which I think is glass set into white metal. The border is decorative and makes a nice addition to the cameo which looks about 1930s era. It measures 3 cm x 2 1/2 cm.

This display shows exactly how this Celluloid Back Button is put together and the seven parts involved. It is interesting to think of the time involved in it’s making. I often wonder how the different buttons were made and how they were designed but I guess that will never be known.

Here is a modern button bought locally at the Haberdashery Store a few years ago. It has a random pattern in silver and gold on the black background. It is of some type of plastic and has a real sheen to it and is quite striking. It measures 2 1/2 cm.

I really like these three buttons. They are quite chunky and have a carved design on them. I am not sure what they are made of; I wonder if they are Bakelite. They are very smooth and tactile; actually they look good enough to eat! They each have a metal loop shank.

Here are two lacy glass buttons which are not easy to get in really good order. Sometimes the paint is quite rubbed on the back. They are clear moulded glass with the colours painted on the back and then a coating of black or silver. The colours show through to the front. They are very expensive if in good order. These ones measure 3 cm and have a metal shank.

These two bone buttons are realistic and have simple carving on them forming an elephant and a bird. They are modern but I don’t really know what age they are. They are lovely and smooth and have a nice sheen on them.

I think this plastic button might actually be Casein but am not sure. I do not know all the different plastics so just generalize. This round button has been dyed red and then carved away in a star like design to reveal the cream colour underneath. That is my theory anyway and stand to be corrected.