Newly Acquired Old Buttons!! (All photos and text ©Maureen Janson 2013)

This week I had the good fortune of obtaining a few buttons from someone's massive collection.  It was difficult to decide on which ones to take home, and which to leave behind...    There are some real beauties here!  I was drawn to the metal ones, and the new purchase reflects that.  I so enjoyed sifting through them all and choosing the ones that jumped out at me--like beach combing in the middle of winter!  (If you are interested in buying any of these, I might consider selling... Please leave a comment below and send specifics in an email to mosaicswitchplates@gmail.com)

Here's the whole lot!  If you've only got a few minutes to poke around on this page, below are photos of small groups of these buttons.  Beyond that, I've posted individual photos.  There are many, but if you've got the time, there are some nice buttons here.

Here are a few of the celluloids and a plastic with rhinestones.

Wonderful tight top/bubble celluloids!  Large one on bottom center is an inch in diameter and about 3/4 in high.

A trio of varied metals.

Each of these small metals has a color tint to it.

Gorgeous painted buttons.

And a group of sailboats!!

Sweet mixture of wood buttons.  Not sure if the pitcher on the left is actually a button, but it could be....

Glass and mother of pearl.

More awesome metals!

And this photo does no justice at all to these lovelies.  See below for the real details.

And yet another sensational group of metal buttons.  Individual close-ups follow:

This large (about 2 inches in diameter) has a neat "fingerprint" swirl design on a dome-shaped top, surrounded by some filigree trim.  I believe this is brass on top.  

Here's the bottom side of this old button.  My guess from the construction of it, is that it's a Victorian era cape or coat button.

Here it is in my hand--it is big!!  And the light hits it differently at every angle.  Truly stunning.

Don't know what kind of metal this is made of, but it is heavy!  And I love the design.  This one is about an inch and a half in diameter, with four holes cut into it.  Looks like a sew-through, but look at the shank below:

Surprise!  It's a loop shank.  Looks like a cast metal button, but I am not able to see any seams, so perhaps it was welded.

I call this lovely silver metal button, The Pretzel!  Measures over an inch and half at the widest.

And the back side looks like a clown face!

This is an awesome perfume button made with a silver colored metal, and greyish felt or wool.  It is actually the largest perfume button I've seen, measuring an inch in diameter.  I love the art deco design too.  Much different than others of this ilk.

Medium-sized steel cup constructed button.  Can't get enough of this type of button!  Each one is a gorgeous detailed piece of art!!

Silver colored two-piece construction.  Has a tunnel shank on the back.   Not spectacular, but a very nice button.

Here's another piece of art.  This one is medium to large--about and inch and a half in diameter.  Bright brass colored metal catches the sunlight so beautifully here.

And the back of the large leafy button.

I'm a big fan of birds, so when I saw this (and more) I knew I had to have it.  I'd say this could be a robin with its babies....  This is actually a twinkle button and measures about an inch in diameter.

This angle shows the twinkle aspect of the button a little better. 

Steel cup construction, and another bird on tree branch.  This one is over an inch in diameter, and gorgeous!!

Another medium-sized metal.  Sweet sunflower!!!

This is a lovely design.  How is it made?  I don't know--is it pounded, made into a mold and then cast?  Perhaps.  This one, I know, was made in Paris.

Here's the back mark:  "Paris (star) T. W. & W." and some other sort of mark..."

Didn't realize how blurry this shot was until I uploaded it.  But for real, this button looks like lace!!

And here's it's delicate back side.

Another lovely little sculpture...

And a terrific twinkle button!!!

This one catches the sun like a diamond!!

Beautiful water bird wades through the reeds looking for food...

This conical-shaped button reminds me of a Turkish or East Indian design.  It appears to be brass with a dark color treatment on top.  (does not look to be paint.)

The back side shows an equally beautiful design, although tough to see the cone shape from this angle.

This button is lightly etched with incredible detail.  May be made of tin?  

All I can make out of the back is "L-S" and the word "PARIS".

This little button is tin. (Tinnie, as they are sometimes called.)  It is tinted gold, then etched with this lovely asymmetrical design.

Another etched "tinnie", but this one is not tinted.

This little button is absolutely sensational!  It's a small bras cup with separate leaf on top, centered by a tiny cut steel stud.  I love that the stem of the leaf trails around the edge of the button.

This view shows the stem edge a bit better.  Sometimes photos just don't do these things justice!  

Here's a lovely Paris back that has a design like a fancy pillow or upholstered furniture.  Beautiful to look at from the front.

And fascinating to see the back:  "S  PARIS   S , 1882"!!

For some reason, this photo did not upload horizontally, but here is a steel cup design with a lovely swimming swan.

Small cut steel button with studs and unique pinwheel.  I love the detailed edges and the asymmetry of the design.

Here's a little beauty.  Pierced brass, painted and featuring cut steel accents.

Here's the back.

And the same beauty.  Pre 1920, and in amazing condition!!

Another painted brass button.  Near one inch in diameter.  

   

And another view.  What I love about this one are the colors--gold, sky blue and grey.  Can't imagine the garment that this was on, but the buttons must have been the highlight!

Another pierced and painted beauty!  Pre 1920.  Some paint chipping off, but love the swirls, colors and tiny heart shapes on the sides.

This view shows the pierced design.

Here's it's pretty back side!

Simple grey painted brass.  Elegant!

One of the more unique painted buttons I've seen.  It's a dome-shaped button with three beautiful red flowers.  About an inch in diameter.

Turn it over, and you find this surprising and fun detail!

Simply terrific tinted blue small metal button.

Simply terrific tinted red small metal button--this one with heron catching a fish!

Fabulous red tinted button.  It's a cup-style, so the pattern is concave.  There's quite a scene depicted here:  house, cattails, snake, fish, butterfly, chain, heron and boat.  What does it mean??

My guess on this tinted steel cup design is that it's a flying dragon!!

And this tiny one (about half inch diameter) has elegant lilies.

Stunning gold metal detailed with cut steel accents.

This button tells a story...coyote talking to bird in tree (or dingo talking to kookaburra??)

Well yes, another sensational metal button!  This little one has golden tinted background and amazing floral details.

And in full sun, it looks like this!!

This one is even smaller with incredible detail and two colors of meta.  I'd like to see this one under a microscope!!

This button is actually black tinted metal.  In the sun here, it looks lighter, but you can see the painted colors and dark grey tinted background.  It's a little one, at just over half inch in diameter.

This one looks like the background has been rubbed off to reveal a shiny mirror-like metal.  I love the little sunflower on the side, with a tiny glass center.

More flowers!!  Small--this one is under half an inch in diameter.  

This one is a bit larger than the previous buttons.  I love the old fashioned feel to this one.  Simple, sweeping, asymmetry.

Over an inch in diameter, this paisley button is top-notch.  It doesn't get much prettier than this!

Medium-sized pierced brass filigree.  Lightweight and lovely.

Another simple, elegant, asymmetrical botanical design.  This one is emerging as another of my favorites in the group.  Love the tan colored background paired with the light silver design.

Turns out this heron catching the fish is the same design as the tinted red one above.  My guess is that a mold was made from one of these and then copied in various style.  The red one is a steel cup two piece design, where this is one piece.  But if you compare the two, they are the same size and have the exact same detail in the picture.

Another terrific design?  Yes!  There is actually no red in this button, but it's got a bit of a twinkle to it between the chevron shapes.

This image shows the sunlight catching the shimmery metal between the chevrons.

Pierced metal cherries!!  About 3/4 inch in diameter.

Wow!!  Pierced brass.  Hard to describe this beauty in words...

Same as above, different angle.  This design is brilliant!!

Cut steels on brass.  Probably from the mid to late 19th century.

This neat leaf button is actually celluloid painted silver.  Some of the silver is coming off the berries, but I actually like it that way.  

Another view of this funky silver-coated celluloid button.

This is a strange button, which I believe is celluloid set in metal, but am going to scrutinize it a bit more before I decide for sure.  The top part is actually black, but here it's reflecting some sunlight.

This is the back of the button above.  At first I thought it was a celluloid back because of the shank, but then I saw the mark--and have never seen a celluloid button with a back mark like that, so now am going to investigate further!

Terrifically detailed celluloid button.  About and inch and half in diameter.  The center is sloppily painted...

Another very neat painted celluloid.  This photo does not do it justice.

Seeing a carved celluloid wafer is what initially got me hooked on antique buttons.  Here's a unique and thick one.

Another view of the above celluloid wafer.  Probably from around the 1920s.

And believe it or not, this cutie is also made of celluloid.

Molded plastic with rhinestone pastes, this fun button is over an inch in diameter.  Probably from the early 1950s.  It's very delicate, despite the large rhinestones.

Lovely layered celluloid with metal loop shank.

Wonderful stripes to this celluloid bubble top.

Another view of the striped bubble-top.

Small celluloid tight top with foil covered with thin layer of celluloid.  From the 1920s.

  

This celluloid button looks unremarkable, but I was attracted to it for the combination of carving on the top, and the fact that it's a two-piece construction with metal backing, yet a sew-through.  

Wonderful celluloid glow bubble!!

Look how this one catches the light!!!

Same little button, different angle.

And here's the back.

Large bubble-top celluloid.  Really fun, sort of faded pattern on it.  

And perhaps even more unique is the back and four-hole post shank!

Here's the front again in the sun!

Awesome "glow" bubble-top celluloid.  Yes, awesome!!!

Here it is lit from the top.

And another view.

And look at this side view!!!!!

Celluloid glow bubble top!  With foil underneath thin layer of celluloid.  This one is under an inch in diameter and made in the 1920s.

This one really glows no matter what angle you see it from!

And here's a view slightly from the side...

One more little glow bubble with foil under celluloid.

Same button, different view.

One more bubble-top celluloid.  This one has a neat bell shape to it.  

Here's the design in a different light.

This side view shows the unique bell shape.

Green glass rhinestones in this beauty!!  (under an inch in diameter.)

And this great button has clear glass and opaque blue glass inlaid into the settings.  Glorious!!

Paisley black glass!  Small, sweet, green and white paisley designs with gold luster crescent moon accents.

Never saw anything like this glass button, swirly carmel brown with and indentation scooped out of one side.  The scoop is painted with a gold luster and oblong teardrop design.

And the back has a four-way metal shank.  

The way the light is hitting this one, it's hard to see that it's all carved black glass.

This one also did not translate so well to the photo, but it's the five on a dice cube made of glass!

This is actually the back side.

This black glass leaf is also emerging as one of my favorites of the lot.  It's got a carnival luster with turquoise coloring in the veins of the leaf.  I love the design, the colors, the shape, the material.  Absolutely stunning.

Another angle of this eye-catching beauty!!

And the back, with a makers mark that I cannot decipher.

Painted black glass.  This one is about 3/4 inch in diameter.

More black glass!  This little guy has silver luster and a silver ball in the center of the circle pattern.  (not a cut steel, possibly just part of the glass painted to shine.  I'm curious about this pattern.  Anyone know what it might represent? 

Carved black glass with carnival luster.  Very pretty up close, but rather plain in person, as the etchings look like the button is just randomly scratched.

Decent sized white glass with silver luster on the side and in a thin line around the edge.

Same simple elegant button from a different angle.

Small horn button.  Lovely carving, almost like a seashell.

And it's back side with the "pick mark" next to the shank.

Another old horn button with terrific detailed pattern.

And one more of horn.  Completely different than the other two.

Back of the horn button.

And another view.

I'll be darned if this is not made of animal antler!!  Fantastic natural coloring.

Even the back is beautiful.  I think the two marks on the side have to do with keeping the shank in place but not sure.

Very nice dyed vegetable ivory button.

And because my husband and I are sailors, I had to pick out a few sailboat buttons!  The one above is plastic.

This one is probably a newer plastic, two pieces that interlock to make the boat shape.

Metal sailboat.  I like that this one is square shaped!

Wood sailboat!

I believe this to be wood although it certainly could be some sort of composition.

Hand made wood flower button!!  Painted with gold paint.

Back of the flower button.

Nearly two inches in diameter, dyed wood button, with carved/pierced flower shape.  

Back of the large wood button.

Home made wood windmill button.  About an inch in diameter.

This sweet little turtle has a plastic shank, so I don't think he's very antique...but he sure is cute!!

Also not sure if this is really a button, but the collector had this on a card with other wooden buttons, and I thought it was pretty fun!!

This one too--button?  Or not?

This shiny mother of pearl is definitely a button!!

Painted wood, almost like a child's toy.  I think this one might be reasonably old.

And again, maybe not so old, but hand carved and very delicate wood button.  (Yes, it's a button with metal shank on the back!!)

Thanks for looking!