A Dandy of a Dandy Button!

[Erik in NJ]

Hi, I got permission on a 2-3 acre piece of land that once held a house that was built in 1880 according to my research. The road it's on is old and has seen Rev War action. The demo debris has rendered much of the site useless to me, but I managed to pull this lovely ornate gilded dandy button. I was struck by the detail of this one as it's perhaps my favorite Dandy so far.

It gave an odd signal that repeated with my Explorer SE Pro, but the pinpoint was way off......must have been 90 degrees on edge as the pinpoint with my Explorer is usually super accurate.

Thanks for looking!

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

love pullin dandy buttons! gorgeous!

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Hi Eric , That is a great dandy button , fantastic design dawg , remember , in Oct. I talked to you about some harness mounts you found ...

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks HEAVYMETALNUT & CMDiamonddawg,

Coming from you guys that means a lot! CMD, yes I remember, I found two in MA this summer and then two more here in NJ -- my only four harness mounts in 10 years , but I consider them amongst my better finds as they are very ornate and interesting relics!

Thanks again for your kind words!

Best, Erik

 

[chark21798]

Nice button i like finding those big ones someday ill turn it over and there will b this great big eagle . Can only dream. HH Mark dreams are goals with deadlines.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks! I was surprised at the level of detail on this one. Must have been quite a sight when new !

Nice button i like finding those big ones someday ill turn it over and there will b this great big eagle . Can only dream. HH Mark dreams are goals with deadlines.

 

[Old River]

Like the button. Looks like what they call a flower button. Congradulations...

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks! Is a Flower Button considered to be a Dandy Button? Would this have been worn by a man or a woman - I'm assuming the latter. Any idea on approximate age?

Like the button. Looks like what they call a flower button. Congradulations...

 

[Steve in PA]

Thanks! Is a Flower Button considered to be a Dandy Button? Would this have been worn by a man or a woman - I'm assuming the latter. Any idea on approximate age?

Like the button. Looks like what they call a flower button. Congradulations...

Nice button Erik, I love those fancy large buttons. Don in SJ has a lot of really nice ones, I have seen his collection. They date from about the late 1780s to 1810 or so. Some people call them cape buttons. I think yours is correctly refered to as a dandy button. I would not call yours a flower button, although floral patterns have appeared on buttons for hundreds of years, it is a catch all phrase for buttons with fancy patterns, and is often used to describe mid-1800s buttons that were popular from the 1840s through the civil war.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks for all of the great info Steve! So do you feel that this button would have adorned a man or woman's clothing? Maybe Don in SJ will chime in here with an ID or some additional info.

 

[RiverRat3]

Very Nice Find!

 

[steelheadwill]

Great Old Button!
Dug one with same pattern, not as nice as yours
I believe Men of that era who dressed extravagantly were called 'Dandies'
HH & thanks for showing!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Steelhead - Thanks!! Would you be able to post a pic of your button?

RR - thanks for your compliment!

 

[Steve in PA]

Great Old Button!
Dug one with same pattern, not as nice as yours
I believe Men of that era who dressed extravagantly were called 'Dandies'
HH & thanks for showing!

Erik, Steelheadwill is right on the money!

 

[Don in SJ]

Great Old Button!
Dug one with same pattern, not as nice as yours
I believe Men of that era who dressed extravagantly were called 'Dandies'
HH & thanks for showing!

Erik, Steelheadwill is right on the money!

Maybe in England, but all those types I find are at isolated homesteads in the woods that were workers for sawmills, iron furnaces, forges. In other words, not exactly well off individuals.

Don

 

[Iron Patch]

Great Old Button!
Dug one with same pattern, not as nice as yours
I believe Men of that era who dressed extravagantly were called 'Dandies'
HH & thanks for showing!

Erik, Steelheadwill is right on the money!

Maybe in England, but all those types I find are at isolated homesteads in the woods that were workers for sawmills, iron furnaces, forges. In other words, not exactly well off individuals.

Don

Don maybe you're confused and it was a Dandy factory?

 

[Woodland Detectors]

That's a good 1!

Lots of Gilt left

Sporty Parisian dandies of the 1830s: "a girdle" helped one achieve this silhouette. The man on the left wears a frock coat, the man on the right wears a morning coat. Historically, especially in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, a dandy, who was self-made, often strove to imitate an aristocratic style of life despite coming from a middle-class background. Looks silly to me

 

[Steve in PA]

Great Old Button!
Dug one with same pattern, not as nice as yours
I believe Men of that era who dressed extravagantly were called 'Dandies'
HH & thanks for showing!

Erik, Steelheadwill is right on the money!

Maybe in England, but all those types I find are at isolated homesteads in the woods that were workers for sawmills, iron furnaces, forges. In other words, not exactly well off individuals.

Don

I think because they were fancy buttons, they are named after the fancy dressers of the period, ie Dandies. But Don is right, they are found at just about any site of the 1800 period. Apparently that was the fashion then and you did not have to be rich to wear big buttons

 

[AREA-51]

nice button 51

 

[DigginThePast]

nice button 51

I agree, nice button.