All things buttons & more …
Here are two original button cards complete with all buttons.
One has 24 purple buttons made with braid being wound around a wooden mould. They were made in England.
The other being made in Germany has 6 large fawn and purple buttons made from some type of plastic. Their colour is quite unusual.
On this card are six clear plastic buttons decorated with two incised overlapping squares coloured black.
They were made in France. My friend Olwyn bought them in Paris for me in 2013.
Haute Nouveaute : Translates from French to Top Novelty.
This set is made of thick chunky brown bakelite.
The escutcheon (the brass addition to the top) is of stamped brass and shows a ladies face with floral decoration which is very detailed.
The face is known as “Gibson Girl ”
They are from the period 1915 – 1920.
The combination of the blue and black is rather striking and with the fine strip of tin it makes a good Art Deco design.
They have a celluloid back and shank.
FABRIC BUTTONS
Fabric and Passementerie buttons is a general term which covers buttons covered with fabric and beaded or embroidered, crocheted and those with thread or braid wound over a mould ( which is mainly wooden ) and the likes.
Many were either black or ecru in colour and in the early 1900’s Paul Poiret ( a French Fashion Designer of the period ) decided to try coloured threads and braid as well as gold or silver fine wire, resulting in some really beautiful buttons. The middle row shows some of his buttons.
THE 1890 YEARS
These buttons are called The Gay Nineties because of their era.
The ones shown are all brass with a coloured “gem ” in the middle.
In those times the aristocrat of society may have had actual gemstones in their buttons.
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ENAMEL BUTTONS
These two buttons are enamelled onto brass.
They both have a pierced design i.e. holes pierced into them in a certain pattern which enhances the button. The colours are quite different but each has a small floral design incorporated in them. I do like them.
CELLULOID
This button is large at 5cms in diameter.
It has a cream coloured background with an unusual “abstractish ” (like that word!) pattern painted on with reds and pale pink.
The celluloid shank is glued onto the back.
Probably from the 1960’s and 70’s, this buckle and buttons are very colourful and modern looking.
The base metal on which the enamelling has been done is copper.
I bought them at the recent Buttonfest in Melbourne.
This white glass button also has the design of the Waterwheel in relief but quite differently done to the black button.
It has had brown paint applied all over and then rubbed back to leave the paint in the crevices only.
This too in my eyes is another beautiful button. It also has a brass loop shank.