Top button made in Paris, the others made in London.
        Livery buttons often had family crests & were worn by menservants of the 18th and 19th century. Most of those pictured here were made by Firmin & Sons, London.
     A couple of interesting buttons with inanimate objects that have crossed paths with me recently. An artist palette, 3D dice, an enamel button with a vase & cut steel nails over faux wood planks.
 Tiny butterflies among roses.   3D pansy buttons.   Grapes were a popular theme among Victorian buttons. Grapes often represented Christ the with fruit & leaves symbolizing the Christian faith. Grapes themselves represented the sacrificial blood of Christ. The leaves stood for rebirth. The vines a representation of bounty. Grapes are one of the earliest cultivated crops & the fruit & their vines are sacred to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. As such, these vines take on a jovial symbolism, representing celebration & abundance. These are just a few examples of antique buttons with a grape motif.         A Bacchante or Maenad, female followers Bacchus, the god of wine.  Carved mother-of-pearl over abalone.   Black glass with silver & blue luster.  China buttons.  Metal buttons.  Cattail design with interior twinkle rim.
These storybook buttons feature a character "Mr. Rook." The design was a based on a story, "The Ballad of Mr. Rook," written by George Wyndham, chief secretary of Ireland, & illustrated by his wife Madeline, to entertain their ill son. The story was published in 1901 in verse form, about a company of rooks (birds smaller than crows) who gather in Clouds, Mr Wyndham's family neighborhood. There the birds find a safe place to nest & a kind lady to feed them. The bird with the umbrella is based on an illustration from the story, because even delicate Victorian birds need not get wet.     Many serious button collectors are against cleaning antique buttons. However, since I am not a collector but a user of antique buttons, I prefer to clean them & bring these miniature pieces of art back to their former glory & beauty. I once believed that cleaning a button would devalue it. Now I'd rather uncover the mysteries under 100 years of rust, grime & verdigris. One of the first buttons I cleaned revealed a hidden strip of copper that was etched with a Greek key design. Just as we feel renewed after a good cleansing shower, so to are these buttons brought back to life.                  Several types of Victorian metal picture buttons with dragons and winged beasts. Includes one depicting Saint George slaying a dragon.
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