Things I have learned about Vintage (black glass) Buttons

[amandainvermont]

My cyber friend, Matthew, (matthewenbray) is totally “into buttons.” This summer I went to a country auction and left some bids on buttons for him and left bids for others for myself. He didn’t win any, but I ended up with a box full of vintage black glass buttons and a collection of buttons with “religious symbols.”

I quickly found out that vintage black glass buttons are common and are EVERYWHERE. Most of you probably know that black glass became popular during Queen Victoria’s reign. She and Albert (her cousin) had nine children and when he died in 1861 she stayed in mourning attire until her death in 1901.

Her black buttons were made of jet, which is actually fossilized coal and needed to be mined. Black glass looked similar and made them available for a more reasonable price for the fashionable. True jet buttons are quite rare.

The National Button Society lists more than 100 materials buttons are made of from plaster of Paris and Horn, to Hair and pine needle.

There are collectors for all of them. Buttons are collected by themes, date, military buttons, shape and some even collect only by the back of the buttons. (Here are some swirl backs.)

I now know black glass is not the best of places to start, unless they are large and “fancy.” I started by taking buttons off the cards and trying to group them by categories - imitation fabric, swirl backs, facets, gold luster, openwork etc. It has taken forever and of course I am nervous about incorrectly listing something. I am wondering if I will even make my money back. ... Never too old to learn, right?

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Amanda, you have some really wonderful buttons there! I just ran across an eBay seller (I'm bidding on one of her jewelry items) who has lots of vintage and antique buttons for sale. Seems to be doing quite well with them--sets and individuals. Some of the singles she has priced at $5 each starting bid, and has gotten some fabulous prices. eBay id is katzenjunker-kids

I should think you could well recoup your investment, possibly several times over!

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

Amanda, what a beautiful collection!!! those bottom rectangular-esche ones are fabulous!!!

for someone who sews, they understand the price of buttons from a retail shop; they're crazy expensive. i'd much rather pay better money for a great vintage real button than an ok looking piece of plastic

wow! congratulations on your acquirement and good luck with them!!!

hey, just got a flashback...remember in the early 70's (ahem...) when velvet chokers were the rage?? i remember i had one that had a finished (tiny) buttonhole in the center front, so a (vintage) shank button could be pushed through and a simple cotter or lynch pin in the back held it in place. Made a really cute, one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry!

point being, yours would make gorgeous choker centers

bet they'd do really well on etsy...

 

[worth-a-peek]

Wow!
Great buttons Amanda.

 

[joules]

I hadn't quite realized all of the symbolic religious meaning attached. I have had acorn, star and Fleur-de-lis ones, etc. Buttons really fascinate me! Thank you for this.

 

[APrizeEveryTime]

Great job with the photography, Amanda!

What really thrills me is the care taken with the categorization of the collection: the typing of labels on a manual typewriter, the snipping of the paper and gluing it onto the floor of the boxes, the careful attachment of the buttons and thoughtful arrangement by theme. That collector is a born cataloger (and a person after my own heart).

Some of those symbolic meanings are new to me. That is so great that the shell button has a little "pearl" on it! I'd never heard of the pearl being a symbol for salvation before. And it's interesting that, in this collector's cultural references, anyway, the thistle, which is a symbol of Scotland, is attributed as a symbol for harm.

I envy you getting to pore over all those!

Have you read "Possession" by A. S. Byatt? It's a gorgeous, thick, sprawling English novel that goes back and forth in time, between two contemporary scholars and the 19th-century subjects of their research, a renowned poet and the possibility of his illicit relationship with another poet. A piece of jet jewelry plays a significant part in it, and there's a wonderful description of the then-touristy Victorian seaside shop where it is bought originally.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Great post! I love vintage buttons and always buy them when they're affordable but here they tend to be costly because they're so popular. I have a big collection in the shop which I use for restorations and people always want to buy them but, you know how it is....

I think the cost with selling modern button is not the item cost, it's the service element. Same with fabrics and haberdashery, that's my guess why they're so much more expensive now than then - oh, and it's probably a "market will bear" thing too.

Nicole