Early Modern Buttons

In January 2018 a cross belt plate of the Devizes
Loyal Volunteers was found in Potterne by Mark
Flitton (Figure 1). The find was reported to the
Portable Antiquities Scheme (WILT-19531D)
and subsequently donated to Wiltshire Museum,
Devizes. The belt plate dates to AD 1799–1808.
The front face is decorated with the Devizes coat of
arms, depicting a castle with a crown above, flanked
by the letters G R. It features an inscription, reading
DEVIZES LOYAL VOLUNTEERS. The bent
spike at the top of the belt plate’s reverse side is
incomplete and measures 4.8mm wide at the break.
At the bottom of the reverse are two circular studs
with flattened tops, 12.9mm in diameter.

The study is a continuation of earlier studies on assemblages of jewellery, devotions and clothing accessories
which were recovered during the archaeological excavation of a defunct cemetery near the former church in
Šporkova Street in Prague-Lesser Town which was in use from the mid-17th century until 1784. Sixty-five
buttons and their parts were found. Twenty-seven formed parts of grave complexes, the rest were found in secondary
positions. Nine hundred and five buried individuals were examined but only 20 of them had buttons
on their bodies. They mainly came from male graves. A large number of the analyzed buttons correspond to objects
described by Diderot in 1772, both technologically and from the viewpoint of their formal appearance and
materials used in their production. These were metal buttons with pressed wood or possibly bone inlays (nos.
15b, 15c, 24, 85, 176, 184), metal buttons which were first pressed and subsequently soldered (nos. 64, 83, 129b,
130, 133a, 149, 191, 235c, 237, 467, 1087, 1092a, 1092b, 1092c, 1097a, 1097b, 1097c and 1133), bone and antler
buttons turned on the lathe, both flat buttons (nos. 167, 605) and cufflinks (nos. 140b, 150, 294, 367, 433, 568), but
also fabric covered buttons (no. 15d) and braided buttons (no. 123d). Diderot's book classifies the production of
a large part of the described buttons as dating from the second half of the 18th century. Also, the majority of the
discovered buttons documented in grave contexts were similarly dated to the 18th century by chronologically
more sensitive grave goods as well as by a comparison of mutual stratigraphic relationships between the grave
complexes. Written sources inform us about the fact that Prague burghers were usually not buried in their
everyday clothes but in special clothes whose existence is also confirmed by the low percentage of archaeologically
documented button finds among their grave goods.

This article presents beadmaking in Paris during the second half of the 16th century as seen through period documents and artifacts. Parisian archives document beadmaking by artisans called patenôtriers who made a wide range of glass buttons and jewelry, including beads. Records of the patenôtriers' guild provide an idea of the number of artisans engaged in this activity, while notarial contracts and estate inventories reveal individual careers and the material dimension of beadmaking in Paris. Patenôtriers obtained their materials-soda glass and enamel supplied as tubes, rods, or ingots-from glassmakers in rural France, Altare in Italy, and a small glassworks that operated in the suburb of Saint-Germaindes-Prés in 1598-1608. They exported rosary beads to Iberia and trade beads to North America. In European terms, Paris was a major beadmaking center during the 16th century and we know its products from a small number of archaeological finds and museum holdings.

In addition to some post-medieval flat- and hollow glass finds (lamp, Kuttrolf), very special, filigree, gilded buttonbeads came to light here. Chemical analyzes show a composition of different, partly unclear materials.

Manuskripterstellung 2009. Bei der Drucklegung wurden einige "Tippfehler" verursacht sowie die zugehörige Tafel vergessen, daher hier im Anhang.

Excavations of the Biry House of Castroville, Texas have produced a diverse assemblage of clothing buttons dating from the 1840s through the 1930s. This paper explores how these buttons are being used to create a more holistic understanding of the lives of these Alsatian immigrants and their descendants. Such buttons are a common occurrence among domestic assemblages of the 19th and 20th century, but these humble artifacts may actively shape the narratives of individual lives and the communities they inhabited. Clothing buttons are the fossils of the fashion world, resisting the wares of time, but still conveying the diverse expressions of identity and social relationships articulated in clothing. Themes of gender, economic choices, and changing domestic practices may all be explored through the buttons of the Biry House. In this sense buttons may be seen as not only fastening garments, but also the very social fabric of Castroville.