Old Mother of Pearl Buttons
Mother of pearl was often the choice for hand carved buttons. The mother of pearl came from the matter that mollusks formed on the inner portion of a shell. Oyster was a common one as was abalone shells. The mother of pearl is easy to work with once you get the hang of where the tender areas are in the pearling. Carvers were particularly good at creating some outstanding old jewelry and buttons from mother of pearl.
When I came across this picture of the old mother of pearl button, it reminded me of a pair of cuff links my grandfather had worn many years ago. None of them really matched in their entirety, but close enough to be considered a perfectly matched, hand carved pair of cuff links. As you see in the photo above, there is a design in metal. The most common of metals used was brass. Brass was easy to form into a design and it could easily be polished when it became dull.
Many of the mother of pearl buttons had a simple bead in the middle, which worked as a shank to sew the button on. When you come across buttons with the looped shank on the back, it is also possible they were cuff links. The shank is normally just a bit longer then what you might expect it to be for a button. The exception to this is the dates of the buttons. As you go back in history, you will see the layers of fabrics are quite a bit thicker in the clothing. It was common for high officials, kings, queens and top dignitaries to require hand carved mother of pearl buttons. They were quite big sometimes to show off a particular carving. The button detail could get quite extensive and show actual portraits of the mistress or master of the house. This type was naturally commissioned and quite expensive to have done, so only the wealthy would normally have worn them.
Home crafters did their own carving, and as it became more acceptable for commoners to wear the mother of pearl buttons, many wonderful hand carvings appeared. Little boys to grown men sported shell carved buttons or links. Mothers brooch doubled as a scarf pin or button.
When looking for old hand carved mother of pearl buttons, you will find them at public auctions, flea markets, on old clothing at yard sales and even in thrift stores. One of my best finds in buttons was from an old hand made Christmas tree wall hanging. It was made of shiny buttons and pieces of old jewelry. One of the buttons was actually a garnet brooch, so look at old ornamental items when hunting down buttons or even jewelry items.
Below are a couple examples of mother of pearl buttons, but you will find a lot of fun buttons in the store index too, or search them out using the many other links provided on this page.
US $21.99
