Antique moss green self shank stone buttons with carved grid design on top that has been painted brown
The stone looks like moss agate with the cream colored spots here and there, but I am not sure. The simple grid design seems Japanese in style.
These buttons are very interesting with the carved grid design. They were hand painted which is obvious in that the painting is rather inconsistent. I wonder if some seamstress needed to make her green buttons brown, in haste, in order to better match the garment. The painting is not meticulously done like the work typically is on antique buttons. So I’m guessing the painting was done later. (Guessing).
It does make perfect sense to me, that a seamstress might have painted them to match a new garment, considering the fact that buttons were one of the first things to be recycled.
I love how much detail went into a button in the old days. And they are all quite unique. The early buttons were handcrafted by smiths and artisans. They were not mass produced. So you may never see the same antique or vintage button twice.
Buttons have been made for centuries (the earliest known button is more than 5000 years old). But it was not until after the industrial revolution that they became readily available.
Sometimes you will see the thread from the previous garment still attached to the button showing where it had been snipped off. Old garments were often cut up for quilting because nothing was wasted. The clothes wore out and the buttons were cherished because they were very expensive to own. The type of buttons one owned was also a symbol of status.
Nothing was wasted in the old days and because things were so well made, we get to enjoy them and pass them on.
These buttons are in excellent condition. All of the antique and vintage buttons I’m selling we're passed on to me by my dear friend, over 20 years ago, when she was in her late 80’s. She gave me her heirloom button collection filled with buttons that had been collected and passed down from the civil war era to the 60's. I'm so honored to have been the keeper of such a treasure and so happy to be able to share them with you, who appreciate these little historical works of art.
