Posted 5 years ago
IronLace
(914 items)
The first glass items I collected were buttons.
My mother would take me along to op shops from when I was a little kid, & as she browsed the shop I'd find a tin of buttons to rummage through...there was always an old biscuit tin full of buttons, usually on the shop counter.
Well, my taste for glass emerged early & I was only interested in glass buttons, never the plastic or shell ones.
Over the years, I kept on buying them, jars full of random buttons & I'd pick out the glass ones & pass the rest on.
Needless to say I acquired a lot of buttons. These are just the tip of the iceberg...
1. Bright colours - a mix of bold reds, oranges, blues. Some are plain, but many have Art Deco designs, novelty shapes, & unusual details. I love that so much thought & effort went into designing & producing such small items. That's why they're worth saving & appreciating.
2. Pastel colours - a mix of greens, light blues, yellow, pink, & mauve. Once again, there's lots of quirky details in these buttons - blue oyster shells with a "pearl" inside, tiny pineapples, hearts...the pink & yellow striped ones are favourites. Some are accented with gilding.
3. Sombre colours - a mix of browns, black, & navy blue. Who knew there were so many variations on brown glass? It's not a colour you see much of in art glass, but it was popular for buttons. I can imagine these on tweed coats, velvet jackets, autumnal - hued & elegantly tailored frocks. Many have striking Art Deco forms & metallic decoration.
I would estimate that most of these buttons were made in Czechoslovakia between the two world wars. There may be some earlier ones scattered among them as well.
What wonderful buttons! I love them, too. I would buy a jar here and there at junk shops, and my mother always had a jar around when I was a child. My daughter and I have had fun going through them and sorting them by type or color, as you did here. I don’t have many glass ones - yours are beautiful! I particularly like the soft greens and salmon pinks that you put together. :)
The brown group looks like a box of expensive chocolates! Each group is beautiful!
Thanks so much, Michelle, I'm so pleased that you're enjoying them!
I think old buttons are just so magical, & a perfect kid's collection...we all seem to love tiny things when we're youngsters, & when you sort through the collection, those feelings return...gently whiling away the hours at play, lost in a small world that one can put into order & make sense of in one's own way...good for the soul.
I think more folks need to play with buttons, it could make the world a happier, kinder place!
Lovely comment, Watchsearcher! They really do look like fancy chocolates!
And soon I'll post some more special buttons...
Thanks so much, Mary! Yes, the collecting bug bit early for me, & glass buttons were my "gateway drug" for art glass, LOL!