Abalone is a type of mollusk that is similar to a mussel. The inside of its shell is vividly iridescent and can be thinly sliced. For both of these reasons, it’s a popular material for button manufacturing. It’s commonly used both to create whole buttons and as a decorative inlay for buttons made of other materials like glass or horn.

The Aesthetic Movement is an artistic trend and design style that flourished in Britain between 1870 and 1890. It was popular in both fine arts as well as applied arts and crafts like button painting. 

Champions of the Aesthetic Movement rebelled against the fussy, detailed, and curvaceous designs that were popular in the Victorian era in favor of more simplified linear forms. Aesthetic artists celebrated pure beauty and art for art’s sake and chose to emphasize sensual qualities in their art and design rather than practical, moral, and narrative considerations.

Arita buttons were manufactured by the Toshikane Company of Japan between 1947 and 1975 and are named after the town where the original owner of the company was born.

The town of Arita was well known for producing exceptional quality porcelain for centuries. After World War II, the regional porcelain manufacturers pursued economic recovery by creating small porcelain items, like buttons, for export. 

Arita buttons are coveted by collectors for their exceptional beauty. They were created with a still-secret, multi-step manufacturing process that included molding, carving, and firing several times to create their distinctive matte, shiny, and metallic finishes. Most Arita buttons depict realistically represented flowers, birds, and Japanese Gods.

Art Deco is a decorative style that emerged in the 1920s and was defined at the Paris Exposition in 1925 as an amalgamation of many other early twentieth-century design styles, including Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Futurism, and Art Nouveau. It is characterized by geometric shapes, linear patterns, and bold colors and remained at the zenith of its popularity until the 1930s.

Art Nouveau was a popular decorative style from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. It is characterized by free-flowing intricate linear designs and flowing curves. It often features stylized interpretations of common natural forms such as flowers, leaves, and female bodies. 

It emerged as an iteration of the Aesthetic Movement and shares the aesthetic’s rebellion against the heavily embellished design styles of the Victorian era.

Freshwater mussel shells, harvested from the Mississippi River, were commonly used for manufacturing mother-of-pearl buttons from the 1800s through to the 1960s. Most of the pearl button manufacturing companies were located on the Mississippi River in Iowa. One of the largest of these was the American Pearl Button Company of Washington which operated from 1908 until 1964. 

At its peak, the company produced about 20,000 buttons per day which they sold on their distinctive Lady Washington button cards. A few decades after the company closed its doors, the great-grandson of the original owner, decided to sell the remaining stock and we bought it all. 

Read more on our Buttonology Blog. https://grandmothersbuttons.com/blogs/buttonology-blog/mississippi-river-pearls

Bakelite is widely considered to be one of the first synthetic plastics. It was invented in New York by a Belgian-American chemist named Leo Baekeland in 1907. 

Bakelite does not conduct electricity, is heat resistant, and can be molded, extruded, or carved which made it a revolutionary discovery in its day. Before WWII, it was used as an electrical insulator for products like radios and television sets as well as in the manufacturing of common household goods like kitchenware, jewelry, toys, and, of course, buttons. After WWII, Bakelite fell out of use as more efficient and inexpensive types of plastics were developed. 

In recent years, the retro appeal of Bakelite products has triggered a resurgence in their popularity. Today, Figural Bakelite buttons, which are often referred to as Goofies, are a highly sought-after and expensive collectible.

In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph and the B. Blumenthal Button Company opened its doors. It was a time when American fashion trends originated in Paris and bustles were all the rage.

The company was an American success story and still manufactures buttons today under the name Blumenthal Lansing. During their more than a century of business operations, the company has manufactured every imaginable kind of button.

In our jewelry, we use the gorgeous pressed glass buttons that Blumenthal manufactured and imported during the allied occupation of Western Germany after WWII. These beauties were produced until the 1960s and were sold under the brand names LaMode, Le Chic, Exquisit, and Costumakers. 

Our favorites are the moonglow buttons which seem to shine with an inner light coming from their billowy, silky opaque glass interiors sealed with a clear glass top.

These charming, small porcelain china buttons were made in hundreds of patterns from the mid to the late nineteenth century. Utilitarian in nature, they were created to complement the popular calico cotton fabrics of the day. The cheerful red, blue, green, pink, purple, and black patterns were transferred with printed tissue onto the white china buttons and then fired in a kiln, the same process used to transferware dishes.

A cameo is a relief carving, or image on a shell or stone, where the design protrudes three-dimensionally above a flat surface. It’s the opposite of intaglio where the design is carved into the surface.

Casein is a type of plastic that was invented in 1897 and is still used in limited quantities today. It is manufactured from a natural protein found in milk products and formaldehyde. Casein plastics are most commonly used to fabricate small consumer items like buttons, beads, buckles, combs, umbrella handles, and knitting needles.

Celluloid is a synthetic plastic that was discovered in 1869 when John Wesley Hyatt combined cellulose with camphor while trying to find an ivory alternative for billiard balls. In the nineteenth century, celluloid was primarily manufactured in thin sheets dyed to imitate marble, granite, or tortoiseshell. It was also commonly applied to paper to provide a clear, protective layer for images. 

Celluloid was also a common material used in button production until it was banned for being overly flammable after WWII. In Victorian-era buttons, thin layers of celluloid were most often sandwiched between layers of metal. In the twentieth century, button manufacturers molded, extruded, or layered celluloid into buttons.

Chasing is a technique for decorating buttons, similar to engraving, whereby indentations are made with a hammer and a punch.

Cut steel buttons were manufactured by riveting tiny faceted bits of steel onto a brass base creating a shimmering effect. Matthew Bolton from Birmingham, England was the first to manufacture cut steel buttons in the 1720s. They quickly rose in popularity as economical imitations of the diamond and marcasite buttons that were fashionable in the royal court. 

They were commonly used on fashionable men’s coats in the 1790s and then enjoyed a second wave of popularity on women’s gowns between 1890 and 1910 when the invention of steam engines made manufacturing them more economical. 

In our studio, we fondly refer to cut steel buttons as “button bling” and love to imagine each one making an opulent Victorian gown sparkle on a ballroom dance floor. 

Read more on our Buttonology Blog: Cut Steel - The Best of All Buttons

https://grandmothersbuttons.com/blogs/buttonology-blog/best-buttons-cut-steel

Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass onto a substrate, like metal, by firing it at a very high temperature (between 1,380 and 1,560 °F). The powder melts, flows, and then hardens into a smooth, durable vitreous, glass-like, coating.

Champleve’ is an enameling process in which the metal surface of the button is hollowed out or grooved with a die or stamp and then filled with colored enamel which is then fired and polished. The result is a surface design that blends metal and enamel into intricate patterns.

Celluloid was also a common material used in button production until it was banned for being overly flammable after WWII. In Victorian-era buttons, thin layers of celluloid were most often sandwiched between layers of metal. In the twentieth century, button manufacturers molded, extruded, or layered celluloid into buttons.

Cloisonne’ is a French enameling technique used for decorating metal objects, like buttons, with colored enamel held in place, or separated by strips of metal. It is accomplished by attaching thin wires to a metal surface to create discrete compartments, called cloisons. The compartments are then filled with enamel, fired, and polished.

Emaux Peints is an enameling process whereby enamel is applied to the surface of the button to create a glass base upon which the final decorative design is painted, and then fired and polished.

Basse-taille is an enameling technique in which the artist carves a low-relief pattern in metal usually by engraving or chasing. Translucent enamel is then applied to the metal and fired.

A paillon is a thin sheet of metallic foil, often silver or gold, used in some enameling techniques. In the button realm, paillons are enamel buttons with small, precisely cut, and shaped foil enclosures.

An escutcheon is a discrete metal ornament that is attached to the top of a button via pins that are stuck through the button and then are soldered onto the button back. They come in a lovely variety of ornamental shapes like stars, flowers, or animals. We have discovered escutcheons attached to a wide variety of button materials including wood, shell, bone, ivory, glass, metal, and antique plastics.

This is a collector's term used to describe gilded brass buttons manufactured in the U.S.A. for men’s jackets between 1820 and 1850. They earned this nickname from their exceptional quality stamped designs and extraordinarily beautiful gilding.

Goldstone glass, or Goldfluss in German, was invented by the Venetians in the seventeenth century. It was manufactured by heating silica and copper oxide until metallic crystals form and was much loved for its glittering copper particles. 

The production process was perfected by Czech and German glass artisans in the early twentieth century. Sadly, this trade is uncommon today and goldstone glass is, therefore, becoming hard to find.

An inlay is an embellishment pressed into a button during the manufacturing process while the button is still pliable. Inlay materials may include pearl, metal cutouts, ivory, or tinsel.

Pressed or molded horn buttons were most often made from a soupy mixture, or slurry, of ground-up hooves, horns, and water that was poured into a mold and then left to harden. 

Sometimes a colored dye was added to the slurry, most often black or red. 

Carved horn buttons were directly chiseled from animal horns or antlers.

Ivoroid is synthetic celluloid plastic that is pressed, tinted, and rubbed down to create an imitation of carved ivory. Nearly all Ivoroid buttons have metal rims and backs while some have cut-out designs attached to a celluloid ring hidden under a metal rim. 

Jet glass buttons are the most iconic and plentiful antique buttons in our collection. When Queen Victoria’s husband Albert died in 1861, she went into mourning and wore black for the rest of her life. Her dour gowns were embellished with black buttons made with a lightweight coal-like mineral called Jet. 

The Queen sparked a fashion trend, and so manufacturers started mass-producing black buttons made of Bohemian pressed glass which was much more economical than organic Jet. Jet buttons remained popular until the early twentieth century when more colorful fashions came into vogue.

Commonly called “Gay Nineties” buttons by collectors, these large, ornate buttons are somewhat misnamed, as their popularity lasted from the 1890s to just after World War I. Worn as fasteners to cloaks or coats, these dashing buttons featured a prominent glass stone in an ornate metal setting.

Livery buttons were worn on the uniforms of servants working in noble or royal houses. These buttons most commonly depicted the heraldic designs of the noble family but could also display monograms, awards for achievements, badges, or initials.

Often mistaken for nineteenth-century buttons, these products of the early to the mid-twentieth century are much loved for the sparkle created by the shiny silver metal background (the ‘mirror’) behind a lacy, openwork metal top. Unlike the older Victorian metal buttons, these invariably have a stamped metal self-shank.

Moonglow glass buttons boast a billowy, silky opaque glass interior sealed with a clear glass top. Striped ones, where the opaque glass boasts two colors in discrete stripes, are the most coveted among collectors. Today, striped moonglow buttons are very difficult to find.

Paris Back is a term used to describe two-piece metal buttons manufactured in the late nineteenth century that have the word Paris stamped onto the back. The stamp noted their place of origin and some also display the name of the manufacturer T.W. & W. PARIS.

Perfume buttons were popular from the mid to late nineteenth century in both the United States and Europe. They typically feature a tiny piece of velvet laid over a metal button back with an overlay of decorative, highly ornate, openwork brass. 

Victorian women sometimes used the velvet affixed to the back of these buttons to absorb and carry their scent. Button lore has it that women often sewed a scented perfume button under her lover’s lapel to comfort him when he went to war.

Read more on our Buttonology Blog: Victorian Perfume Buttons, A Love Story

Porcelain is a type of ceramic made by heating clay at very high temperatures and then glazing it with colorful materials. The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery arises from vitrification, which means transforming a substance into glass. Porcelain can be divided into three main categories including hard-paste, soft-paste, and bone china. 

Hand painting porcelain buttons was a popular hobby among middle and upper-class Victorian women.

Read more on our Buttonology Blog: Crazy For Porcelain

Realistics are buttons that celebrate everyday items like animals, flowers, or fruit. Some simply boast an outline of the item on the button while others have complex three-dimensional shapes. They’re made from multiple kinds of materials and might be a variety of ages. Some are mass-produced while others are made in small batches in specialized studios.

Satsuma pottery is characterized by a cream-colored base decorated with an ivory crackle glaze. Some also have a matte black and cobalt blue background. They were manufactured for export from 1850 to 1950 and mostly depicted flowers, people in traditional dress, dragons, birds, and Japanese landscapes.

Benedict Schwanda founded his button company to manufacture carved shell buttons in Czechoslovakia in 1882. Ten years later he moved the company to New York City and started making exceptional ocean pearl buttons with foot-powered lathes. 

After WWII, the company imported and sold gorgeous glass buttons from Western Germany until they closed their doors in 1969. These glass buttons are the ones we use in our jewelry designs. In 1989, we were thrilled to find a large stash of Schwanda moonglow buttons that had been languishing in railway cars for two decades.

A shank is a separate piece (usually a small loop) attached to the back of a button back that is used to sew the button onto clothing. These buttons are differentiated from sewn-through buttons which have three or four holes drilled through the button.

Vegetable ivory or tagua nut is a product made from the hard white endosperm of the seeds of certain palm trees and is named for its resemblance to animal ivory. Its natural light beige coloring and ability to easily absorb colorful dyes made it ideal for button manufacturing. Vegetable Ivory buttons were popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

They come in an incredible variety of styles including carved, drilled, dyed, painted, printed, or impressed with all manner of designs. They are often decorated with escutcheons, pearls, glass inserts, or glitter.