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Saturday, August 1, 2015

Just For Today . . .

 

For the past several years, I've been sharing monthly from my collection of antique buttons. (If you click on the sidebar icon entitled "Antique Button of the Month," you'll see a gallery of all the buttons I've shared to date.)

Just for today, I want to call your attention to this month's offering. It's my favorite of the lot, and I think it deserves to be seen enlarged. This button, which probably adorned a cloak or cape, measures less than 1¾" in diameter, and for that size has extraordinary detail. I like to think of it as my little Cellini.

Wishing you a Happy August!
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6 comments:

  1. Dear Mark - With this lovely little button the more you look the more you see. It even appears to have a dragon sitting on the crest of the helmet along with an akroter too.
    Happy August to you too - but the year flying by too fast

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    1. Dear Rosemary,

      I like that dragon on top of the helmet, but I haven't yet figured out what is on the back of the helmet. It appears as almost an upsweep of hair. This design must have been popular because I have a smaller button with the same face and helmet.

      My year is moving quickly, too. As this is a particularly hot month in Florida, I'm looking forward to our September and October weather.

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  2. Dear Mark, Unbelievable detail in such a small button. You have a very special treasure. Would love to know the story about its acquisition.
    You might have to come to this part of the world for a few weeks. It's in the eighties during the day and fifties at night.

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    1. Dear Gina,

      I've acquired some antique buttons in antique stores and shows (and this one came from an antique show), but you might be surprised to know there are antique button societies throughout the Unitied States, and that they hold large conventions. That's because collecting buttons ranks as the 3rd most popular [collecting] hobby in the United States, after stamps and coins.

      Your weather sounds almost perfect to me!

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  3. Hello Mark, Just think of the many individual steps required to make this button, that had to be repeated for each of the set. Today there would be no patience for this kind of skilled and intricate work, making these old examples even more precious.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello, Jim,

      I agree with you, and I think that's true of so many items that were fabricated in the last century and before. All the more reason to appreciate craftsmanship today!

      The great irony of advanced technology is that in many ways it has become a double-edged sword. It has sped up our lives with the result of stress and the loss of many small daily niceties and observances. And while I would not trade away my place in time, with all its advantages, I nonetheless am aware of that loss in my own life, and consciously try to slow down my own pace of living. That requires making choices to opt out of a number of popular things (such as not owning a TV).

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