Allie's Adornments&nbsp;&nbsp;

A charm string or memory string was a 19th century pastime which consisted of collecting buttons & other small mementos & stringing them together.
Young women of the 1860s-1900s would have parties in which they would exchange buttons & stories associated with them, Rules dictated that buttons couldn't be purchased for the collection & had to be gifts from other collectors, suitors, friends or family. The gift of a button was considered lucky & the stringing of the buttons on a string enhanced good luck.

Strings were often left in view of visitors in order to encourage donations as well as conversation starter by serving as a memento & reminder of past events. The string became a physical reminder of the button owner & times associated with that person.

Lore has it that girls who collected 999 buttons would meet her true love after adding the 1000th. Other stories claim the addition of the 1000th would doom the girl to spinsterhood. One thousand button strings are rare & most were much smaller. This one has about 150 buttons.

Eros, cupid, fairies & angels. 01/17/2012

In the late 1800’s William Bouguereau was one of the most popular painters in France. In 1880, his painting “Young Girl Defending Herself From Eros,” took the Paris Salon by storm. His romantic style of classical imagery was a hit with the public. This button was made in Paris & is a replica of his famous painting.

Antique metal picture buttons with cupid, angels, fairies & putti.

Lions. 01/12/2012

Different types of lion buttons. Top:Storybook button of Sampson Wresting the Lion. Middle: Doorknocker style brass figural lion heads. Bottom: Heraldry style lion with shield.

Heart twinkles. 10/19/2011

Small ball shaped buttons with hear shapes cut out of the top that allow the interior reflective twinkle aspect to shine through & provide additional brilliance.

Ship of Devilment. 09/18/2011

This design is said to be based on an etching by Peter Fiotner, a Swiss sculptor who lived from 1485-1546. It has winged beasties on a a boat & an oar whose end has a giant bearded devil with horns.

Geisha button, Japanese ladies with umbrellas. 09/15/2011

Large figural brass button of Yum-Yum from the widely popular 1885 comic opera The Mikado by Gilbert & Sullivan. An English fascination for all things Japanese spread through the country as trade between Europe & Japan increased dramatically from the 1860s - 1870s. This is one of my favorite buttons because of the intricate details in the panels of the parasol & on the kimono fabric.

Victorian picture & twinkle buttons on original cards. 03/13/2011

Another great haul of buttons still on their original cards. or just barely still on the card as is the case in the last photo. Top buttons are much more detailed than I'd originally noticed & have an early Art Nouveau floral design over a green background. Gray buttons have a tiny butterfly in the design. bottom card of twinkle buttons with tinting.

Pretty Paris buttons. 02/09/2011

Full cards of unused antique Victorian & Edwardian buttons; a great way to motivate me to create more jewelry.

Antique Mother-of-pearl buttons from France. 01/15/2011

A couple cards of antique mother-of-pearl buttons from France. Both have nice graphics.

Paris Mode, 2 cards of large buttons. 11/08/2010

Found 2 full cards of these Paris Mode brand Edwardian buttons. They are nice, large (1 1/4"), and in good condition, even though the cards are quite stained & dirty. Not a horribly exciting design, a sprig of fern & basket, but ok nonetheless. This is the 1st time that I've seen a Paris Mode card that was marked "Made in Germany," at the bottom.