This necklace flaunts a gorgeous Gay Nineties cloak button featuring a laurel garland circling a faceted amethyst glass center.
This button radiates the extraordinary vitality of the 1890s. Known as the Gay Nineties, it was a decadent decade culturally akin to the Roaring Twenties. It was defined by Aubrey Beardsley's sensual black ink illustrations, Oscar Wilde's witty plays, and the birth of the suffragette movement.
In the button world, Gay Nineties is a collector's term describing the large, ornate buttons worn to fasten long hooded opera cloaks. This button would have adorned a cloak lined with the finest materials like crushed velvet or silky satin.
In this piece:
- Brass cloak button with amethyst glass stone, circa 1890
- Czech glass beads
- Two brass stampings, a setting, and tulip bead cap, made today in the USA in vintage dies
- Antiqued brass chain
- Length is 28” with a 4” extender, plus a 5” tassel
Shop the collection: Limited Editions
