Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-10
BUTTONS OF ALL AGES
MAKE ODD COLLECTION

1t was man who said that 1.-The more
buttons there are on a woman's dress
the more likely it Is that 1t fastens by
hooks" but 1t was man who first invented
the button for his own use and adorn-
ment. and Anglo-Saxon women went on
fastening their cote-hardies and other
simple garments of the time by large
brooches for quite while after the
French male dandies had begun to deck
themselves with rows of buttons quite
after the style of the smart girl of today
There were. of course, buttons earlier
than this. Gold buttons have been found
in Mycenae, and these are among the very
oldest in existence, but the ancient Greeks
mostly used clasps and brooches to hold
together their beautiful draperies.
In the middle ages buttons became very
were designed for ecclesiastical vestments,
which we're the most splendid attires OF
the time, but later on the layman sue
cumbed to the fascination Of the button,
and with the dawn Of the renaissance he
became respondent in fastenings of horn.
pearl, ivory and even diamond and rubies.
Centuries after this the button found a
magnificent advocate in Louis XIV. Dia-
mond buttons pleased him best, and he
had them even on his hats and garters
and his shoes. On one Of his vests he
had four dozen gold buttons. each con-
tanning a fine diamond and 1t Is recorded
that he once bought seventy-nve dia-
mond buttons in day.
In the eighteenth century If buttons
lessened In gorgeousness they increased
in artistic value; indeed, this was perhaps
the most beautiful phase in their history.
The cleverest artists Of the period did not
consider the work Of painting buttons be-
meath their dignity. One Of the fancies
Of the period was to have sets of buttons
which differed from each other yet re-
ferred to the same subject Thus the nine
muses.. the twelve Caesars and the allie
gorical beings OF Greek stories all had
their vogue as button decorations.
Ladies' portraits in miniature were an
other button fad Of this exquisite age, and
the French revolution inspired many
costly sets of topical buttons. some OF
these being adorned by the Phsygian cap,
others by miniatures of the chief actors
on both sides of the struggle.
Victorian times did little for the button
as work of art. Occasionally an erup-
ton of buttons broke out on feminine
clothing, but they were OF unitarian
order; even when used as ornaments they
were chiefly of the so much a dozen kind
and depended on their arrangement and
numbers for decorative effect.
Now, however. there are hopes that the
decorative button Is coming into its own
again Every woman who delights to be
picturesque in her dress always keeps her
eyes open to pick up a bargain in artistic
buttons, ard when she has become pos
sessed Of a treasured set thinks it not
unrea sonable to design a whole toilet for
their better display.
Among the most delightful buttons to be
acquired just now are the Japanese ones
of Satsuma ware, which harmonic so de-
lightfully with almost any fabric. Plain
silver ones are apt to look a little sud
den" on most dresses, but oxidized ones
in good designs and those of fine enamel
work are almost invariably success.