Dating buttons
One of the first questions usually asked about a button is ‘How old is it?’ In answering, there are a number of imponderables, all of which must be borne in mind.
The only buttons that can be dated with total accuracy are of silver or gold and carry an original hallmark incorporating a date letter. There are a rare few that carry a kite mark, and a few which carry a date or commemorative design. Back marks of a button manufacturer or tailor can give an indication of the age of the button.
Dating unmarked buttons requires careful consideration of the material used and the manner of its use. Close examination with a magnifying glass is always recommended. With this precept in mind it is an advantage to have more than one example of a set so that detailed comparisons can be made of the construction and any decoration, mould marks or natural grain lines.
Kite mark on a black glass button giving a date of June 1868.
Kite mark giving a date of 7th December 1872.
Both sides of a button with a foil picture under glass on the front. The back mark reads ‘Registered Feb 11th. 1848 G.T.’
The industrial revolution of the eighteenth century introduced manufacturing processes which resulted in uniformity, replacing the unevenness and individuality of hand operations.
Some vogues in button ornamentation passed, never to return, whereas others became classics and were adapted only slightly by each generation. Clothing fashion may only guide us in the dating process because a favoured style can become a lifelong habit after newer fashions have been introduced. Small buttons were set close together to create a neatly fitted appearance to a bodice or sleeve. Large buttons could be used on loose, flowing styles as the width of the buttonhole provided a flexible dimension to the garment.
Ready-to-wear clothing has come to dominate the trade only since the Second World War. Before then personal tailoring from commercial establishments or home dressmakers allowed for a wide market for the button manufacturers. Buttons could be expensive items, often chosen with as much care as would be taken over a piece of jewellery, and selected for their individual appeal rather than because they matched a particular article of clothing. They were never thrown away, but kept in the button box, a tradition that persisted through many generations. Buttons with long shanks were generally intended for use on the thick cloth of gentlemen’s clothes. Once in the family button box, the original purpose of any type of button was forgotten. This recycling can present a collector with a very misleading provenance for a button.
‘Austrian tinies’, the collectors’ name for this type of late-nineteenth-century button, although they were also made elsewhere. All are 3 / 8 inch (1 cm), made up of decorative layers of various materials held together by the rim with a japanned back and metal shank.
Engraved pearl button, measuring 1½ inches (4 cm), with inset metal shank and silver-plated rim. The back mark of Firmin & Sons Ltd dates the button to after 1879.
Nineteenth-century glass paperweight buttons with metal loop shank. The diameter of each is a quarter of an inch (7 mm).
Late-nineteenth-century lithographs.
Nineteenth-century pearl buttons. (Top row, left to right) Painted glass dome centre on grey pearl base; (next two) metal escutcheons on pearl. (Middle row, left to right) Steel tulip set into dyed pearl surround; dyed pattern and painted gold trim on pearl; silver inlaid into grey pearl. (Bottom row, left to right) Cut grey pearl with gold paint; cameo-cut dog’s head; glass centre on carved grey pearl.
Button history
Buttons date back as far as man’s use of a covering for his body. The hunter-gatherer of prehistory needed a fastening that held his goatskin warm and snug to his body and left his arms free to use weapons and tools. Buttons or button-like objects have been found in north European prehistoric sites,
One of the first questions usually asked about a button is ‘How old is it?’ In answering, there are a number of imponderables, all of which must be borne in mind.
The only buttons that can be dated with total accuracy are of silver or gold and carry an original hallmark incorporating a date letter. There are a rare few that carry a kite mark, and a few which carry a date or commemorative design. Back marks of a button manufacturer or tailor can give an indication of the age of the button.
Dating unmarked buttons requires careful consideration of the material used and the manner of its use. Close examination with a magnifying glass is always recommended. With this precept in mind it is an advantage to have more than one example of a set so that detailed comparisons can be made of the construction and any decoration, mould marks or natural grain lines.
Kite mark on a black glass button giving a date of June 1868.
Kite mark giving a date of 7th December 1872.
Both sides of a button with a foil picture under glass on the front. The back mark reads ‘Registered Feb 11th. 1848 G.T.’
The industrial revolution of the eighteenth century introduced manufacturing processes which resulted in uniformity, replacing the unevenness and individuality of hand operations.
Some vogues in button ornamentation passed, never to return, whereas others became classics and were adapted only slightly by each generation. Clothing fashion may only guide us in the dating process because a favoured style can become a lifelong habit after newer fashions have been introduced. Small buttons were set close together to create a neatly fitted appearance to a bodice or sleeve. Large buttons could be used on loose, flowing styles as the width of the buttonhole provided a flexible dimension to the garment.
Ready-to-wear clothing has come to dominate the trade only since the Second World War. Before then personal tailoring from commercial establishments or home dressmakers allowed for a wide market for the button manufacturers. Buttons could be expensive items, often chosen with as much care as would be taken over a piece of jewellery, and selected for their individual appeal rather than because they matched a particular article of clothing. They were never thrown away, but kept in the button box, a tradition that persisted through many generations. Buttons with long shanks were generally intended for use on the thick cloth of gentlemen’s clothes. Once in the family button box, the original purpose of any type of button was forgotten. This recycling can present a collector with a very misleading provenance for a button.
‘Austrian tinies’, the collectors’ name for this type of late-nineteenth-century button, although they were also made elsewhere. All are 3 / 8 inch (1 cm), made up of decorative layers of various materials held together by the rim with a japanned back and metal shank.
Engraved pearl button, measuring 1½ inches (4 cm), with inset metal shank and silver-plated rim. The back mark of Firmin & Sons Ltd dates the button to after 1879.
Nineteenth-century glass paperweight buttons with metal loop shank. The diameter of each is a quarter of an inch (7 mm).
Late-nineteenth-century lithographs.
Nineteenth-century pearl buttons. (Top row, left to right) Painted glass dome centre on grey pearl base; (next two) metal escutcheons on pearl. (Middle row, left to right) Steel tulip set into dyed pearl surround; dyed pattern and painted gold trim on pearl; silver inlaid into grey pearl. (Bottom row, left to right) Cut grey pearl with gold paint; cameo-cut dog’s head; glass centre on carved grey pearl.
Button history
Buttons date back as far as man’s use of a covering for his body. The hunter-gatherer of prehistory needed a fastening that held his goatskin warm and snug to his body and left his arms free to use weapons and tools. Buttons or button-like objects have been found in north European prehistoric sites,
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