glass has been crafted into buttons since the 18th century in britain. ‘drop’ buttons, or those constructed of globs of glass and polished or faceted and mounted on a u-shaped metal shank (rather like a staple), were imported from britain… blown glass with metal shanks were developed after 1900. lacey glass, both that of the pressed tableware fame and look-alikes, was produced from 1825 to 1870, primarily for women’s clothing. in 1840, milk glass buttons, simple utilitarian two to four hole sewthrough styles of opaque white pressed glass, began to replace brass and gilt buttons in men’s wear. (from ‘buttoning down the past’)
i would gladly describe every old find that lands on my hand…
just like with the black coral beads story, i discovered this deep cobalt blue button among other glass ball buttons, black ones, in same design and shape. the light hit it from the certain angle and the blue shone through brightly.
this is a very early victorian glass ball button with brass nail head pin shank, also known as a charmstring or paperweight button (?), both fair names… pin is flat on the inside and domed on top, the plate is quite large and every single detail of every button looks different. she (sorry, can’t say ‘it’) came from the 1800s and her first ‘home’ was a men’s waistcoat. 1870-80s or maybe even 1850s, i am not an expert, but i will try to find out!
вот ещё одна удивительная находка. английская стеклянная пуговица викторианской эпохи, случайно оказавшаяся рядом с чёрными, такими же красивыми, конечно, но этот глубокий свет, как скрытое пламя в чёрном коралле… эта пуговица была сделана в девятнадцатом веке, когда-то между 1850-м и 1880-м годами! скорее всего, она была на мужской жилетке и не пришивалась, а имела специальную клипсу, похожую на короткую невидимку, которую нужно было прикреплять на край одежды.