The Press., 1897-07-01
MILLIONS IN BUTTONS
CATCHES MADE OF COSTLY DIAMONDS
 IN THE DAYS OF LOUIS XIV.

An Inventory That Reads Like a Fairy Tale-The Ridiculous Mania For Gigan- tic Buttons In the Eighteenth Century. Collectors Pay High Prices.
 Recently at the Hotel Drouot there was a sale of a curious and interesting collection of ancient buttons. the proper ty of Baron Perignan of Paris. This col lection, which was exhibited in 1889 at the exposition of decorative arts, might rival any one of those belonging to the most enthusiastic buttonists in the world. Clapisson. the musician, col lected 7,75O di1 erent specimens. In 1S49 a collector in Ghent exhibited more than 80, 900, and M Maignien, the librarian of the Grenoble library, gained a certain reputation in this branch of curiosities through his collec- tion of buttons of liveries and of uni forms.
 The buttons of the eighteenth century bring high prices ill the market at the present time. There are some of them that Fragonard, we are told, decorated with his marvellous pencil. In his time it was fashionable to make presents of buttons as big as a crown piece, on which allegories and various subjects were carved.
 Bachaumont writes in his Secret Memoirs,'' Nov. IS, 1786: "The mania for buttons is today extremely ridicu- lous They are not only of enormous size, some of them as big as six pound crowns, but miniatures and pictures are made upon them, and this ornamental ton is extremely costly. Some of them represent the medals of the 12 Caesars, others antique statues and still others the Metamo1phoses of Ovid. " Isabey, ill his biographical notes, says that when he came to Paris he worked for a living by making copies of VanloCs and BOuchers on the lids of snuffboxes, and that for these medal | lions he was paid from to francs each. "As it was still the fashion, he said, Ito wear hUttCus as big as q 5 franc piece, upCh which CupIds, flowers and landscapes were cut ill cameO, l went into that business, 1 got I2 sous | for each.
 Two years after this period i'll the l life of B&chaumOnt buttons abandoned eruditiOn to take up edileship. All the | fine nOnumCnts of Pa1is were carved | on them. Then came the patriotic but tons, representing the taking of tho Bas l tile, the en- b1em of the three orders the Phrygian cap, the portraits of Louis | XVI, Of MllabCau.
 l Shortly afterward these ornaments were laid aside. The reign of the ar | tistic button was over, and the mother l of pearl button became general. The oldest buttons at present in the museums and among the collections are | the gold buttons discovered at MycenG, l at the time of the excavations undertak en by Dr. Schliemann, and also those found i'll the tomb of Childeric L The latter were exhibited at the Louvre in the Musee des Souverains. They are made of gold and of colored glass, imi- tating garnet Buttons detached from copes and religious garments of the middle ages and of the renaissance have also been discovered.
 But the richest things of the kind, be- | yond doubt, are those that were worn by Louis XIV. M. Maze Sencier, in the Register of Diamonds and Presents to the King" a present. preserved in the ministry of foreign affairs, gives an off cial account Of the buttons of that pomp- | JUS sONS1S1Sh 4O 4S ds 1Ol4OWS.
 Feb. 3, 1695.-Montarcy presented to the king so diamond buttons, valued at 18O, O3O livres
 May 7, l685.-Made and delivered by Sieur Bose, 6 diamond buttons, 30, 900 livres.
 July 26, 1885. Handed over by Montarcy to the Marquis de Seignelay fer the king 75 diamond buttons, 5S6, 703 livres
 "Apg. 1, IGS5.-Two diamond but tons, 67, 866 livres.
 Aug Is, I685.-Three diamond but tons, 69, 66O livres.
 Dec. 20, l685.-Four diamond but tons, 83, 775 ivres.
 Another item ill the same year:
 July 26, 1685.-Furnished by Mon- tarcy for the kings vest: Forty eight gold buttons, each set with a diamond, and 96 clasps, 48 of which were com posed of five diamonds each and 48 ot one diamond each, IS5, 123 livres.
 "Also 384 clasps for the doublet of the king, l62 of which were formed o1 five diamonds each and l62 of one dia- mond each, 1,OO6, 345 livres.
 'In addition there were seven orna- mental clasps of three diamonds each, aO1, ,27O livres
 "Sundry presents, 33 ornamented clasps, 574, 1866 livres. ''
 That foots up a total of about 8, 900, 900 livres for the buttons of the Great King" for the single year of 1885 The preceding year Louis XIV received lot of buttons that were valued at l,O7l, ,OOC livres In these enumerations there is no mention of the diamonds for the shoes, the garters, the cuffs and the hats of the monarch.
 We are obliged to admit, with ou1 coats and overcoats garnished with mis erable little cloth and bone affairs, we cut a poor figure ill the fancy button business compared to the dudes of the days of Louis XIV.-Paris Figaro.