All this year I've been gearing up for a special week of Art Nouveau buttons—and so begins this very ornate and distinctive week. I think it's fitting to post these buttons during the days before Christmas. Each button exudes the qualities of an olden-day gift and a work of art. This one, for example, perfectly illustrates the Art Nouveau style with its graceful tendrils, leafy bouquet and a speckled stone as pretty as an Easter egg. The pink oval rests under a brass frond that gives the button a regal quality, as if the work was tailor made for a queen. Also, I can't put my finger on it, but something about this button reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. It's almost as if there's a story hiding in the foliage of this luxuriant formation. Least noticeable is the fact that this button's frilly decorations rest on a piece of chocolate brown Bakelite. As will be the case with every button I post this week, the Bakelite falls to the background of metalwork and usually also a delicious bead or jewel. A triumph of vintage fashion, if this exceedingly lavish button isn't over 100 years old, I reckon it was made in the early nineteen-twenties.
-Sherbert McGee
A brilliant set of novelty buttons from the 1920's, these shiny orange squares tested positive for Bakelite—and wow are they spiffy! Each button is laced with strands of rubberized wire in bright yellow, which gives these handsome delights an electric zing. The lady who sold me these neat-o buttons asked me to take special care of them because they'd been in her collection for many years. Lady, you've got yourself a deal!
-Sherbert McGee
Let's see what we have here. These are a set of large double-cut buttons made of chocolate Bakelite with a trefoil design on one side and a fairly minimal design on the other. I've flipped the middle button over to show the unique variation of the sides. Always keeping my eye out for trefoil-shaped buttons, I was pleased to find these last year at an antique mall in St. Louis. Circa 1927.
-Sherbert McGee
Cookies, anyone? Here's a large and lovely pair of cookie buttons in creamed corn with bright red stripes. These buttons tested positive for Bakelite and if they don't go back to the 1930's, they may very well go back to the 1920's. Picture them on a bubblegum-chewing flapper at the rollicking height of the Jazz Age. Today's the last day I'll be posting a painting by Tamara de Lempicka (my favorite artist if it hasn't become obvious). This alpine work is titled, St. Moritz—named after the Swiss village known for its luxury ski resorts that were especially popular for their bob runs and bob races. Painted in 1929, the subject in the painting looks to me like Jordan Baker, straight out of The Great Gatsby.
-Sherbert McGee
WooHoo! Green is a lucky color and here's a couple of lucky, octagonal buttons in bright emerald green Bakelite. Aren't they something? These are the lighter type of Bakelite with a pressed design that's a wonderful example of geometric art deco. Simple and yet dashingly chic. Going back to the 1920's, these old greenies exude lots of smarts and character. My kind of buttons.
-Sherbert McGee
Purchased ages ago at an antique shop in New York City on 34th Street, here we have three HUGE Bakelite buttons in the shapes of gaping bowls. I call them Sally Bowles. Get it? Anyway, the color is a bright creamed corn (almost custard yellow) and what's really unique about these showstoppers is the enamel dots traveling along the rims. Each button is peppered with 24 of these decimal points for a smart and tidy effect that I've never seen before on a Bakelite button. In other words, these are the only buttons in my collection that feature enamel trimming. Aren't they something? I don't have a clue how the enamel was adhered to the Bakelite, but nary a dot is absent and they all seem tightly fastened. I've posted bowl buttons before, but these are the absolute tops. From the 1930's.
-Sherbert McGee
All this year I've been posting Bakelite rocker buttons at least once a month, some of them wedge shaped, some half cylindrical, many solid colors and many transparent—but none quite like these elongated rockers in deep butterscotch (verging on orange) and topped in creamed corn. Rarest of the rocker variety, I call these "rocker logs" and have honestly never seen another button like them. Going back to the 1920's, these old toggle-length beauties are speckled with patina while retaining their olden-day gleam. For all the rocker buttons I've shared this year, I do have several rockers that I haven't shown and will be posting them sparingly next year. That said, 2018 marks the only full year of monthly rocker buttons posted on this blog. They're among my favorite pieces of Bakelite.
-Sherbert McGee
Surprise, surprise! These lovely ladies turned up in a box of old stationery that I found today in storage. I forgot I owned these bright red blossoms! While they might be plumeria flowers, they also have an Asian look about them as well as a revolving spiral effect. Aren't the pretty? Once upon a time, if you scroll back a year or two on this blog, I believe I've posted a creamed corn variation of this exact same button. Need I mention that these tested positive for Bakelite?
-Sherbert McGee
Unlike any other button in my collection, this gooey looking formation appears to be melting. The underside of the button is apple juice Bakelite, which runs thick and sooth. Above the AJ layer we have a shiny black topside that also tests positive for Bakelite, but this section is broken into twelve holes as if the substance got soft and sticky and began to melt or liquefy like wax. It's a case of the slowly dissolving Bakelite button! From the 1930's.
-Sherbert McGee
Here's a nifty pair of toggle buttons. Totally dissimilar and yet these toggles sport two distinctly colored sides. Split down the middle, we have a cylinder in cherry red/creamed corn as well as an art deco button with tiered ends in dark green/creamed corn. Both of these toggle buttons tested positive for Bakelite and hark back to the 1920's. These buttons remind me of Christmas ornaments.
-Sherbert McGee
