The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-09-02
rue HISTORY OF BUTTONS.
., of wearing Ornamental Ones In
vogue Long Ago.

., of wearing ornamental ones In
vogue Long Ago.
,ooor,,v Mt the Hotel Drouot, IN
ii there was sale Of n curious
, interesting collection of ancient
.,,,ons. the property of Baron Peris-
W., If Paris. This collection, which
I'LL aa exhibited in 1889 at the Exposi-
we .a of Decorative Arts, might rival
~. ~ one of those belonging to the most
a,,,buslastic buttonists In the world.
Span,sson. the musician, collected 1850
,,seront specimens. In 1S49 a collec-
W. In Ghent exhibited more than
yo ooO and NJ. Maignien, the librarian
tho Grenoble library, gained
oarta,n reputation in this branch Of
on,sosities through his collection OF
,,,,,,ons of liveries aud uniforms. The
,,uttons OF the 18th century bring high
nrices In the market at the present
Tim. There are some Of them that Fra
,,annrd. we are told, decorated with
bis marvellous pencil. In his time IT
was fash tonable to make presents Of
buttons rs big as a crown piece, on
which allegories and various subjects
were carved. Bachnumcnt writes IN
nis "Seoret Members" November IL,
1910. "rhe mania for buttons Is to-
day extremely ridiculous. They are
not only Of enormous size, some or
them as big as six-pound crowns put
miniatures and pictures are made up
-, them and ornamentat1on Is ex-
.remely costly. Some Of them repre-
cont the medals of the twelve Caesars,
others antique statues, and still others
me Metamorphoses OF Ovid"
Isabey. in his Biographical notes,
hA On
worked for living by making copies
NJ yanloos and Bouchers on the lids
~ snuff boxes, and that for these
mcdallions he was paid from to
1r.ncs each. "As II was still the
fashion." he said. ito wear buttons as
hIp ms a five-fNns piece, upon which
cunld's flowers and landscapes We're
cnt In cameo. | went into that busi-
ness. got IL soils for EACH
Two years after this poriod In the
life of Bachaumont buttons abandon
cd erudition to take up edileship. All
.be fine monuments Of Paris were
carved on them. Then came tho
rotriotlc buttons, representing the
taking of the Bastile, the emblem or
the three orders, the Phrygian cap. the
portraits of Louis XVI. of Mirabeau.
shortly afterward these ornaments
wore laid aside. The reign OF the arts
tlc button was over, and the mother OF
pearl button became general.
The oldest buttons at present IN the
museums and among the collections
pre the gold buttons discovered al
Nycenae. at the time of the e1cava
t,ons undertaken by DR.. Schlieman
and also those found In the 0ornp OF
Cbilderic l. The latter were exhibltet
~ +be Louvre in the MUSES. des Sow
erains. They are made OF gold ana O.
colored glass. initiating garnet Button
detached from copes and religious gar
ments of the middle ages and OF tn
Renaissance have also been discovered
But the richest things Of the KIND
beyond a doubt, are those that wer
worn by Louis XIV. NJ. Maze e-Sencie'
in the Register OF Diamonds An
Presents to the King" at present pr
served in the ministry of f0ressn anair
gives an official account of the button
Of that pompous sovereign. II Is
follows:
..Febr,,ary g. 16s5-Montarcy pr
scented to the king eighty diamond ou
tons, valued at 1sO,O3O lvres.
MAY Z, 1Gss-Made and delivered !
Sieur Bose six dtumond buttons So'o
lvres.
July &c. 1eS5-Handed over by Mo
tarcy to the Marquis de seigneiay 4
the king, seventy-Gve diamond put'on
GAG, ,703 livreS.
August /. 16s5-Two diamond br
tons, 61.SG6 hvres.
"August 16, 16S5-Three dlamol
buttons, G9,660 livres.
December 20, 18S0-FOur d'ano'
buttons, S3,775 hvres.'
Another item in the same year:
"July 26 eS5-Furnished by Nc
sarcv for the kings vest: Forty-eie
gold buttons. each set with diamo
and ninety six clasps, forty .eight
which were composed Of five damon
each, 1S5, 1913 llvres.
ALSO 1884 clasps for the doublet
the king, 162 Of which were formed
i've diamonds each and 162 OF
diamond each, 1905 40.
"In addition, there were seven or
mental clasps of three diamonds ea
,270 livres.
"Sundry presents thirty y-three OF
mented clasps, 674, 1858 hvres.
That foots up a total Of about tn
millions for the buttons OF the .ur
King for the single year OF 1909.
preceding year Louis XIV. recelVe'
lot of buttons that were valueu
lO71.OOO liyres. In these enumerati
there is no mention OF the diamo
for the shoes, the garters, the c
and the hats Of the monarch.
We are obliged to admit, with
coats and overcoats garnished ..
miserable little cloth and bone an
we cut a poor figure In the Fancy
ton business compared to the DUDE
the days of Louis flV.-Faris fle