Oddball Button a Buddy Dug

[snaps]

Hey Everyone. A friend dug this button along with civil war era stuff and we were hoping someone could shed some light on it. Looks as if it may have been painted black. The back is very encrusted and not much help.

Thanks for looking
Snaps

 

[creskol]

That would fall under the category of either "theater and opera" buttons or "story" buttons.

 

[DCMatt]

Hmmm... Hard to say what that image is. A clown? A frog prince? The Tin Man? Punchinello?

I'm guessing it's a late 19th C picture button. The black paint is probably "japanning".

Picture button motifs could be anything. If you can figure out what yours represents we might be able to put a date on it.

Here is a small sample of Victorian era picture buttons:

 

[smallfoot]

Man, I love that "man in the moon" in your group shot!

 

[Red-Coat]

I’ve seen buttons with figures riding on a goose or swan, but usually they’re cherubs or occasionally Aphrodite. That appears to be neither of those and does indeed look like a clown-type figure on a goose rather than a swan. If you zoom in, the mouth looks like he’s laughing out loud. Perhaps related to this (from the Wiki entry on “Circus Clown” ?

“The slapstick form known as pantomime had been a Broadway staple since before the Civil War, but it reached a peak of popularity during the 1860s and 70's. These shows placed figures from Mother Goose stories in wildly varied settings, always finding an excuse to transform them into the clown characters of traditional commedia dell'arte (Harlequin, Columbina, etc.). Popular songs were loosely inserted whenever the audience needed a breather. Lavish sets and athletic clowning were expected, along with elaborate ballets.”

 

[DCMatt]

I’ve seen buttons with figures riding on a goose or swan, but usually they’re cherubs or occasionally Aphrodite. That appears to be neither of those and does indeed look like a clown-type figure on a goose rather than a swan. If you zoom in, the mouth looks like he’s laughing out loud. Perhaps related to this (from the Wiki entry on “Circus Clown” ?

“The slapstick form known as pantomime had been a Broadway staple since before the Civil War, but it reached a peak of popularity during the 1860s and 70's. These shows placed figures from Mother Goose stories in wildly varied settings, always finding an excuse to transform them into the clown characters of traditional commedia dell'arte (Harlequin, Columbina, etc.). Popular songs were loosely inserted whenever the audience needed a breather. Lavish sets and athletic clowning were expected, along with elaborate ballets.”

Good eye R-C! I just saw that as well.

I washed the OP pic through Paint Shop and brought out a little more detail. Now I'm thinking Mother Goose.

 

[A2coins]

Looks like ylthe flying monkey on wizard of oz my 1 cent lol

 

[snaps]

wow thanks guys great stuff! Red coat very clown-like- Matt that is one creepy Mother Goose! but maybe just distortion from the ground action-A2 a monkey is what I saw too!

 

[smokeythecat]

Certainly not US military. Reminds me of some of the Indian (Asian) godesses.

 

[Red-Coat]

Reminds me of some of the Indian (Asian) godesses.

Good thought. That crossed my mind too. There are four Hindu gods typically associated with a mount (‘vahana’) that’s an aquatic bird of passage (‘hamsa’) and usually interpreted as a goose or swan. Those four are: Brahma, Gayatri, Saraswati, and Vishvakarma. I couldn’t see any other iconography that supports any of those guesses though. No musical instrument, scales, hands clasped in meditation, multiple faces, etc. and I couldn’t convince myself that those curved things around the body were multiple arms. I was more sure that the mouth is open wide in laughter as might be expected for more whimsical iconography.

 

[welsbury]

That was my first impression too smokey,like an thai india something. Can almost see it riding a big bird?too. Odd

 

[Red-Coat]

Pantomime (we call it 'panto') is stiil a popular thing over here, especially during the Christmas period. Mother Goose is traditionally the narrator for the story but also appears as a character in various versions of over-the-top comedic fantasy performances for kids. Whatever the story, there are always certain obligatory protocols: principal boy played by a young girl with legs up to her armpits; ugly dames played by men in drag; slapstick scene with clowns; singalongs; audience hissing and yelling "he's behind you" when the villain with the curly moustache slinks in; 'celebrity' guest who's usually a former soap star from ten years ago in the twilight of their career and can't get any other work; much ad-libbing and forgetting of lines; bawdy double-entendre jokes for the benefit of adults and intended to go over the heads of the kids (but often don't).



Any American visiting the UK at Xmas (especially with small kids) should experience this once in a lifetime. But probably only once.

 

[DCMatt]

Certainly not US military. Reminds me of some of the Indian (Asian) godesses.

Brahma riding hamsa