Buttonsplus

Here is a cold enamel button in the Art Nouveau style. It is a very pleasing design with deep green enamel offsetting the floral design on a white background. Although it is not as showy as the full gloss enamels it is still a favourite of mine. I have an article and photograph from a 2012 NBB Journal showing a three piece Silk Pongee Suit with enamel buttons circa 1900 – 1906. There are two different designs used but those used on the cuffs are identical design to this button only in another colour scheme. I was really thrilled to find this article. It is nice to see what garment the buttons are used on.

Here is a Japanese hand painted Satsuma button. It features a Geisha Girl with a sunshade and is quite colourful with a lot of gold paintwork. It measures 3 cm in diameter.

Here are five modern buttons depicting nursery rhymes. They are part of a commercial polyester set made for Blumenthal Company and are backmarked B/L 96. They are realistic buttons and their colours are bright and cheery. They show Little Miss Muffet, Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty and Jack be Nimble and are just a bit of fun.

This Gay Nineties button has a beautifully coloured purple stone in the centre. It is set in brass which has been embossed in a lovely design. It appears to have been painted purple in the plain brass areas and would have been really striking in it’s original condition. I still like it anyway.

Here is a set of six handmade fine linen thread buttons from the Victorian period. They are small at just under 1 cm in diameter. How fiddly they would be to make.

Here is a group of three small black glass buttons in varying designs. Two have self shanks and one a brass loop shank. They measure 1 1/4cm.

This black horn button has a “Cameo style” head on it. I do not know who it represents. It measures 3 cm and has a metal look shank. I quite like buttons with heads on them.

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These buttons are very glitzy being set in gold metal. They are modern and were purchases in China in 2013. Paste is the term given to these buttons with small facetted glass stones set into metal in various designs.

Here is an original button card showing nine small utility pearl buttons. They are shown as Chalmers Pearls and the art work on the card is nice with a lot of gold.

This Realistic button is Mother of Pearl and is modern. It is in the form of a flower and has a brass loop shank. It measures 4 cm so is quite large.