Brown & Brassy

I'm in the mood for chocolate and here's just the thing—a big chocolate Bakelite button, topped with a bright gold escutcheon! Don't get too excited. It's brass. But what a marvel! I love the carved loops on the Bakelite and how the design is accentuated by the brass coils. It's as though this old button is crowned with a gilded serpent à la Medusa. From the 1930's.

-Sherbert McGee  

Brass Lily Pads

Here's a special button that must've looked glorious once upon a time on a fur coat back in the early 1920's. The background is a plain black slab of triangular Bakelite with rounded edges. Much more visually striking is the eyeful of brass lily pads, pinned twice to the Bakelite and emanating the famous Art Nouveau style. Adding to the dimensional quality of the brass, the leaves are curled upwards for a lifelike effect. It amazes me that such meticulous craftsmanship went into olden-day buttons. A major fashion relic, this elegant piece is a hard-to-find work of art.

-Sherbert McGee

Compass-Button

Ahoy, mateys! Here begins a full week of buttons that pertain to ocean-related subjects. To get things going, I'm sharing my dual-purpose anchor button—made of creamed corn Bakelite and featuring a working compass! It's a rare thing indeed, the reality of a button that does more than just fasten clothing. Part trinket and part navigational tool, it's truly an exciting novelty item for collectors. Look at the smooth simplicity of the Bakelite design. The glass cap over the compass is tarnished, but the magnetized pointer functions correctly, which is pretty astounding in light of the fact that this button is approximately 85 years old. As a compass, it probably won't be coming with me on any seafaring voyages, but as a cheery piece of bright yellow Bakelite it definitely makes a big splash. Stay tuned for a nautical-themed week of some very unusual buttons.

-Sherbert McGee

Daisy Tortoise

Let's kick this week off with a huge button made of tortoise Bakelite. Twelve lobes or petals going around this big daisy are decoratively pinned with metal studs. The earthy color and straightforward contours of this button make me think of Native American artwork. I purchased this button from my friend Doreen, and let me emphasize this: If you're interested in collecting buttons of any substance or style, please visit Doreen's Etsy shop. I buy buttons from this lady all the time and her buttons are glorious and fairly priced. All the buttons I'm positing this week are from Doreen's online shop. She sells an ever-changing smorgasbord of buttons and her store is a major eyeful of vivid finds. On that note, be sure to click the link I leave for BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC (Doreen's shop) whenever I spotlight a button I've purchased from her myself. Happy button collecting!

Visit Doreen's online store:

BUTTONS FROM THE ATTIC

-Sherbert McGee

Five!

Having neglected to post any buttons last week, here's FIVE Bakelite biggies and they are not buttons to be sneezed at. All heavy coat buttons, these are some major collector's items in various earth tones—and notice the variety of shapes. The transparent button in the lower left corner is an apple juice button sculpted with deep, feathery dashes and cut into a sort of leaf-like shape with a smattering of brown flecks floating inside the AJ Bakelite. The black button in the lower right corner is the largest one here, an angular diamond that's been polished to a glassy shine with handsome gouges along the top. The central button is a chocolate beauty with a starburst escutcheon made of metal (brass, methinks). The hexagonal button at the top right-hand corner is the most carved button pictured. Color-wise, it's Mississippi Mud, or a murky blend of black and brown, although it possesses a greenish moss tone as well. Finally, the button at the top left-hand corner is a rounded square made of multiple pieces of Bakelite—glued together to form a stylish art deco design with components in black, apple juice and another mossy brown tone. That's an eyeful of buttons, folks! Thank you kindly.

-Sherbert McGee