Buttonsplus

These Coconut Shell buttons are completely different to each other. The first one has a floral design painted on it, the second has a sort of geometric design and the third one has leaves etched into it. The back of them of course is the outside of the shell so is a varied shade of brown. They are modern buttons and were readily available at the haberdashery stores a few years back.

Here are three handmade wooden buttons. The top two were made by the Late Bobbie Shepheard from Ballarat. He was a retired builder and loved playing with wood. On these two he inserted old button tops to make them just a bit different. The bottom one is carved and painted Balsa wood showing an Owl’s face. It was made in 2010 by F. Rossi of USA. It is quite realistic.

I believe that these painted porcelain buttons are quite old but do not know how old. One is quite bright with two Oriental ladies with sunshades. The other shows a lady beside a table with a plant in a vase. They measure a little over 3 cm so are quite a nice size.

These porcelain buttons were made in 2007 by Tracey Sharkey from Victoria. She used to live over near Bendigo but I think she may be in Melbourne now. I originally got some of her buttons at Bendigo Art Gallery and then the Shepparton Art Gallery had some too. They are crisp and bright and I guess they are transfer printed. They would be very showy on a plain fabric garment or I think maybe they are more of a collector’s item. I have a few of her sets of buttons in my collection.

This is a Glass Paperweight button made by Tom Lee who I guess may come from USA. I don’t really know. In my opinion the name is much too big and takes over the design. I also have no idea of it’s age. So all in all it is a bit of a mystery. It measures just under 2 1/2 cm.

This Cut Steel button is quite showy with it’s border of Cut Steels in diminishing sizes and the very large one in the centre. It is just divided up with the open brass work in an interesting pattern. It measures 3 cm.

Here is a brass button with Cut Steel trim. It features a Roman Soldier with helmet on in the centre and the decorative border has Cut Steels spaced around it. You can see on the back where the steels are individually rivetted in. It measures just under 3 1/2 cm and has a brass loop shank.

Here are three Victorian Celluloid ( or Celluloid Back ) buttons. I like this type of button especially for the delicate metal trim on them all. As common in these buttons the celluloid is usually in the colours of brown, grey, fawn and the likes. No brightly coloured clothes were worn back then. The celluloid is quite often shaded or lightly textured as in these three buttons.

Here is a Satsuma button with a Geisha Girl by a window. It is in shades of pale aqua and orange. The Satsuma buttons with figures on them seem to be harder to find and more pricey. Many have flowers or bamboo pictured on them.

Here are three different Ceramic buttons which have a little bit of age to them. They are different in shape, design and colour. I do not have lots of ceramic or pottery buttons but like the homemade look about them so they are not churned out by the hundreds.