Cleopatra and the Asp theatre button

Cleopatra was the Egyptian queen in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra". The play was a composite of love, passion, lust, treachery and world history. This small button shows Cleopatra playing her harp while the asp which caused her death slithers on the hammock.
For sale (under metal catagory) @ Pegs Buttons

Modern Vegetable Ivory Buttons from Ecuador

My friend recently went to Ecuador and visited a button factory. "I had a tour today and it was quite informative. I learned of a new kind of coconut seed know as the Tagua. It is about the size of an avocado. When it is first harvested it is edible and some of the nuts are used for nutritional purposes. Most, however, are left in the sun to harden and turn into what is knows as vegetable ivory. This ivory has many decorative purposes but the main use seems to be to make buttons. The shells are sliced, then have a hole drilled through them and the round piece of ivory is used to make buttons. All of the waste material is ground up and used for cattle feed. It was quite fascinating to see the whole process from nut to finished product."
These are some of the buttons he brought back, for sale under Misc. materials at Pegs Buttons

The Lion Of Lucerne button

I was able to view this monument some time ago in Lucerne, Switerland. The famous monument was designed by Bertel Thorwaldsen (1770-1844) in a huge rock on the mountainside not far from Lucerne.
The huge lion is carved in solid rock in memory of the Swiss guards massacred in defense of the Tuileries in Paris and French Royal Family, August 10, 1792.
This small button is the exact reproduction of the monument..for sale at Pegs Buttons

Button poem MY BUTTONS

Beauty is all around me
as I sit in an easy chair
With my buttons in profusion
piled everywhere.

Some buttons tell a story
of people from long ago;
Of king's, Queens's, operas,
or history
They make a fascinating show.

On some are beautiful flowers,
Some have leaves or a vine,
others have mammals or insects,
I find some of each on mine.

There's glass of every color
with lusters, enamel and gold
to add to their value or beauty.
Some are quite modern, some old.

I find some china buttons,
calicos, and stencils are there.
Bulleyes, piecrusts and hobnails,
of beauty they have their share.

Whatever their age or material
or in what category they fall.
Expensive, or plain little buttons,
They're mine, and I love them all..
by Irma Shoop

Realistic Angel fish Coconut Shell button

In the tropics the coconut palm tree grow, bearing nuts which have a hard shell and takes a very high polish. The fibrous coating of the nut is removed and the shell is then polished. It is then ready for carving into buttons and other objects.
This button for sale at
Pegs Buttons
look under Misc. materials.

Celluloid acorn button

just listed in my button store.
Celluloid buttons were made from 1869 to 1920

Button History

Right and Left Buttoning
Men button clothes from right to left, women from left to right. Studying portraits and drawings of buttoned garments, fashion historians have traced the practice back to the fifteeth century, and they believe they understand its origin.
Men, at court, on travels, and on the battlefield, generally dressed themselves. And since most humans are right-handed, the majority of men found it expeditious to have garments button from right to left.
Women who could afford the expensive buttons of the day had female dressing servants. Maids, also predominantly right-handed, and facing buttons head-on, found it easier to fasten their mistresses garments if the buttons and buttonholes were sewn on in a mirror image reversal. Tailors complied and the convention has never been altered or challenged.

BUTTON TRIVIA

The word "button" comes from the French word "bouton" meaning bud, protuberance, or any round object.
The first buttons made in the U.S. were made of metal. In 1750 Caspar Wistar, a German immigrant, began manufacturing brass buttons in Philadelphia.
In America, buttons were once used for trading with the Indians.
Louis XIV is said to have spent $60,000 on jeweled buttons.

The Little Tailor, or Nine At One Blow button

The Little Tailor, or Nine At One Blow, from the nursery tale in which the Little Tailor tells everyone that he killed "nine at one blow" when the nine were really flies! The brass figure and fly are applied to a one piece, textured brass background. The rim is attached to the background by short bars, leaving a space open at the side all the way around. The button is extra large, scarce and NOT for sale.

Cherub rowing a boat button

Cherub Rowing a Boat
for sale at my eCrater store
MUCH MUCH nicer than my lousy picture shows

One of my favorite buttons, small pictorial

One of my favorite little pictorial buttons
not for sale