Buttons

Buttons were made in various metals including gold, silver, gilt, Sheffield plate, pewter, steel, wire and brass. With the exception of certain metal buttons, they were generally dome-shaped during the first half of the eighteenth century and usually of a medium or small size. Until the days of Elizabeth I, buttons had been ornamental only, since clothes were fastened by aiglets or hooks-and-eyes and various other devices. Nevertheless, buttons were popular even then, as can be seen in contemporary portraits whose subjects are often dressed in costumes liberally decorated by this form of ornament. Very early silver buttons, however, have mostly disappeared over the years. (more…)