large flat button with flowers on front

[brncofan]

0hi today was my first day out this year been a long winter in new England!!!! can anyone help me on the age of this button it appears to have flowers on it is this colonial? any help would be great thanks found with my AT PRO aprx 5 -6 in deep

 

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[Steve in PA]

Nice button! Circa 1780 to 1800.

 

[johnnyblaze]

Nice big Colonial button heat up some peroxide and drop it in for a while...

Blaze

 

[Coilcrazy2]

Nice looking button! Yep its most likely late 1700s nice find!
CC

 

[brncofan]

Nice button

 

[CRUSADER]

Dandy Button 1750-80

 

[Steve in PA]

Dandy Button 1750-80

Sorry Cru. I have to disagree with that date range. They just don't turn up on sites prior to 1780 over here, but they are very common on sites that can be accurately dated to the 1790s. We have a slight advantage over here because we can often pinpoint to within a couple years when a site saw activity over here, especially with respect to when the start of activity occurred. The sites you hunt have seen footsteps for hundreds, even thousands of years.

 

[CRUSADER]

Sorry Cru. I have to disagree with that date range. They just don't turn up on sites prior to 1780 over here, but they are very common on sites that can be accurately dated to the 1790s. We have a slight advantage over here because we can often pinpoint to within a couple years when a site saw activity over here, especially with respect to when the start of activity occurred. The sites you hunt have seen footsteps for hundreds, even thousands of years.

That makes no difference to the actual manufacturing date in the UK. I agree it would take time for the fashion to get there (& travel) & those dates would align OK.

 

[Steve in PA]

That makes no difference to the actual manufacturing date in the UK. I agree it would take time for the fashion to get there (& travel) & those dates would align OK.

I can't prove it but I believe there is a connection between the large button craze in the US (which I date from the late 1780s to about 1810) and the large GW Inaugural buttons.

 

[CRUSADER]

Sorry Cru. I have to disagree with that date range. They just don't turn up on sites prior to 1780 over here, but they are very common on sites that can be accurately dated to the 1790s. We have a slight advantage over here because we can often pinpoint to within a couple years when a site saw activity over here, especially with respect to when the start of activity occurred. The sites you hunt have seen footsteps for hundreds, even thousands of years.

Just did some background reading to check my grey matter.

I see why this makes sense, because these have been given the nick-name 'Colonial Buttons' as they became popular in the colonies in the late 18th & into the 19th C. So depending on your point of view, you could predict there loss in the 19th C as well. I think with the evidence you normally build you can guess the loss period, but over here the height of their fashion is well documented including a nice cartoon dated 1777.

 

[Steve in PA]

Just did some background reading to check my grey matter.

I see why this makes sense, because these have been given the nick-name 'Colonial Buttons' as they became popular in the colonies in the late 18th & into the 19th C. So depending on your point of view, you could predict there loss in the 19th C as well. I think with the evidence you normally build you can guess the loss period, but over here the height of their fashion is well documented including a nice cartoon dated 1777.

I'll buy that

 

[A2coins]

great find

 

[CRUSADER]

I can't prove it but I believe there is a connection between the large button craze in the US (which I date from the late 1780s to about 1810) and the large GW Inaugural buttons.

One must have influenced the other, thats the way of fashion.

I'm now wondering if the manufacturers that produced these in the UK, continued to met the demand of the colonies (after moving onto other types for the internal market) or whether there were enough surplus or recycled ones to met that demand.
I can't believe that the same techniques we see on the 1750's examples carry through to the 1820s (for example, when there were major improvements).
Is there an unknown (to me) contemporary US manufacturer copying old styles/techniques?? Anyone?

 

[Steve in PA]

One must have influenced the other, thats the way of fashion.

I'm now wondering if the manufacturers that produced these in the UK, continued to met the demand of the colonies (after moving onto other types for the internal market) or whether there were enough surplus or recycled ones to met that demand.
I can't believe that the same techniques we see on the 1750's examples carry through to the 1820s (for example, when there were major improvements).
Is there an unknown (to me) contemporary US manufacturer copying old styles/techniques?? Anyone?

Some of the large dandies we see here are die struck, others appear to be hand engraved. I don't know how you would tell if they were manufactured in England or America since none have backmarks. I believe that clothiers stopped putting them on coats around 1800, but the coats they were already on continued to be worn, and the buttons lost for some time afterward. Maybe some of the button societies would have more info. All the studies I have on buttons relate to military buttons.