Stone Button Identify??

[Tennessee Relics]

 

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[Tennessee Relics]

 

[Tennessee Relics]

 

[Tennessee Relics]

 

[Tennessee Relics]

Found in Clay County Tennessee.Was told it's a 1500-1600's early Quaker Button.

 

[smokeythecat]

Maybe baked clay? Interesting find. Tennessee was settled by Europeans later than the 1500's. I'd guess a little later than what you indicated. A nice find.

 

[Tennessee Relics]

I believe it might be sandstone.has alot of crystal like particals but yes I do think it may have been baked.thanks for ur feedback.first time posting.

 

[nkellam22]

I would say its a hem weight not a button
Used to hold ladies dresses down.
I would say it dates somewhere in the 1800s but I am not 100% on the date range.

 

[Gambrinus]

Maybe it was a Whirligig?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Maybe it was a Whirligig?

I've always called these things 'Whizzers', that is if we're talking about, a type of early child's toy.
These have also been called Whirligigs, Buzzers, Button Spinners and Buzzers.

"A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls or has at least one part that spins or whirls. Whirligigs are also known as pinwheels, whizzers, buzzers, comic weather vanes, gee-haws, spinners, whirlygigs, whirlijigs, whirlyjigs, whirlybirds, or plain whirly. Whirligigs are most commonly powered by the wind but can be hand, friction, or motor powered. They can be used as a kinetic garden ornament. They can be designed to transmit sound and vibration into the ground to repel burrowing rodents in yards, gardens, and backyards. Whirligigs can be divided into four categories: button, friction, string and wind driven.

Button whirligigs

Button whirligigs, also known as button spinners and buzzers, are the oldest known whirligigs. They require only a piece of clay or bone and a strip of hide. Native American cultures had their own version of this toy in 500 BC. Many a child of the Great Depression from the southern Appalachians and Ozarks remembers a button or token, or coin and a string as the primary spinning toy of their youth. Button whirligigs are simple spinning toys whereby two looped ends of twisting thread are pulled with both arms, causing the button to spin. Button whirligigs are often seen today in craft shops and souvenir stores in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Buzzers

Buzzers are button whirligigs that make a sound which can be modulated by how quickly the button is spinning and by the tightness of the string. A buzzer is often constructed by running string through two of the holes on a large button and is a common and easily made toy. A buzzer was also an ancient mechanical device used for ceremonial purposes and as a toy. It is constructed by centering an object at the midpoint of a cord or thong and winding the cord while holding the ends stationary. The object is whirled by alternately pulling and releasing the tension on the cord. The whirling object makes a buzzing or humming sound, giving the device its common name.

American Indians used the buzzer as a toy and, also ceremonially, as to call up the wind. Early Indian buzzers were constructed of wood, bone, or stone, and date from at least the Fourche Maline Culture, c. 500 B.C."

Here are some other examples of early ... nice find TR.
Dave

 

[Iron Buzz]

Maybe it was a Whirligig?

That was my guess. I was just reading through the replies before adding my own suggestion.

 

[yaxthri]

Interesting find.
Mark thread "solved

 

[steelheadwill]

Let's leave that up to the op there sponge

 

[A2coins]

Great info. Very cool find