Buttonsplus

Here is a little group of buttons that are new to my collection. They were acquired from a friend and they vary in age, material and design. Some old plastic, new plastic, glass and shell. The orange one in the middle has a mother of pearl centre. The black and white checked one is plastic and a little different. They are just keeps and not necessarily carding material. I have many in that catagory. They are still part of fashions of the day.

These three vegetable ivory buttons have been painted with a scene. You can tell they are hand painted by the small variances in the work. I believe they come from Equador. They are new to my collection and I now have a few of this type, some with faces.

These three buttons were made by my friend Di Taylor and feature a bird cabachon which has been beaded around. She did the beading on the back also with a tiny beaded loop for the shank. They are certainly unique. She also made the card box with the zentangle decoration. What a nice gift for me to receive.

Here is a group of glass buttons realistically showing fruit and vegetables. They are new to my collection. I just bought them because they are bright and thought they would make a nice group. I have nothing else like them.

Here is a plastic button that is new to my collection. It is modern but I do not know what age. The gold rose against the black is rather nice and would compliment a plain fabric. It measures a little under 3 cm. The back is convex with a small square self shank.

These small plastic buttons on their original card were made in France. They are hand painted with what I think is meant to be a vase of flowers. At first I thought the blue at the bottom was some kind of Oriental writing but that didn’t make much sense on French buttons. I may be wrong. They are sew through type and measure a little under 1 1/2cm.

Here are five plastic children’s buttons. Are they from the 1940s or maybe 1950s ? I have just acquired them. I find old children’s buttons hard to get. These ones are painted with a picture of what I thought was a rabbit but upon further scrutiny I think they must be a mouse as they have a long tail. Am I right? They are cute anyway.

Here are three coconut shell buttons which I have just acquired. They are modern and vary greatly in their design and colour. The black floral and the orange geometric ones I think are painted. I am not sure of the one that looks like red tulips; it could be a transfer. I have quite a few coconut shell buttons and they have a variety of designs and techniques which make them interesting.

This button is new to my collection. It is of a smokey light brown colour with an amber/brown coloured facetted glass centre. It is a realistic flower button and has a metal six segment rosette shank so I think quite old. It measures 4 cm.

Here is a modern button in purple, black and various colours. The triangular shape makes it different and I think quite striking. It would make a real statement on the right garment. I can’t place my hands on it at the moment to measure it but it is quite a nice size I know. I have thousands of buttons in my collection and can’t remember where they all are.