Buttonsplus

Oh! what bright eyes you have! This group of four buttons are of Lampwork Glass and just in basic red, green and blue. They are quite striking in their rather naive sort of way. They are modern and I do not know the maker. They have a metal loop shank.

This is a vegetable ivory button with a fossil embedded in the centre. It was made in 2012 by Bob Benson of USA. It has a couple of narrow borders which have been dyed and carved in a simple pattern. It measures a little over 4 cm.

This fabric button was stitched by Helen Pappas from Benalla, Victoria. It shows a Christmas tree with parcels underneath. She has done lots of embroidered buttons over the years. It measures just under 4 cm. It looks better in reality.

I am a fan of Beatrix Potter and can really appreciate her sketches as I also like to sketch. The first button is plastic and features Mrs Tiggy Winkle one of her characters. The second button is porcelain with a portrait of Beatrix Potter and was made by Birchcroft, England. I have several books about Beatrix’ s life. Her parents were overpowering and put too many restrictions on her but she proved her point and became quite famous and made a good income from her children’s books. There were many buttons made featuring her story characters in the twentieth century and I have quite a nice selection of them.

Here is a group of Gay Nineties buttons from as the name suggests the late 1890s. They are all metal with a large glass stone of varying colours set in the centre. On the whole they are quite large being 3 1/2 to 4 cm in diameter.

Here are four old buttons made by wrapping thread around a wooden mould. Different threads have been used and then some crochet done. They don’t have a shank and you sew them on through the threads at the back. I do not know their actual age but think they are quite old.

Here is a Fabric button which is modern and I think made in India. It is of black velvet and decorated with beads and gold stitchery. I have a few of this type of button as they were popular in the shops maybe ten years ago. They were hand made and this one has one bead that has been stuck in the wrong way. It measures a little over 3 cm.

This metal picture button depicts Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. The wolf looks very hungry! It has a decorative border and the gold picture stands out very nicely. Many childhood rhymes and stories were pictured on buttons over the years. This button is probably from the early 1900s and I would love to know what it was worn on. It measures 4 cm and has a metal loop shank and japanned back.

I think this plastic button is Casein. It is an aqua/blue colour which has been dyed and where the star like pattern has been cut away the inner colour is shown. I guess it may have been white and has just creamed with age. It is a type of toggle and would be suitable for a jacket.

Here are two inlaid plastic buttons which both have a tin trim. They are old; maybe 1930s – 40s, I don’t really know. You would not call them pretty nor are their colours very complimentary. Lady’s clothing was generally more colourful in later years.