Purchased at a button show in Connecticut, October 2011. These buttons were originally displayed in a framed exhibit. They were gathered and exhibited by Kate Turner in 1874. The buttons were in poor condition having been displayed in sunlight then improperly stored in an attic for years. A number of buttons had disintegrated, most notably kaleidoscope buttons. Some had been discarded when the glass was replaced at some point in the past as the glass was newer than the frame and a number of kaleidoscope shanks were found on the strings. The buttons were displayed in strings varying from small to large on a board background on which a pattern had been drawn. The button strings were sewn onto the background. The background was set into the frame which had a red braided cord border and a red velvet strip of material also as a border. The cord and velvet strip were attached with tiny tacks. The frame had a rough thin multiple board backing. The entire piece was in poor condition and could not be salvaged. As many buttons as possible were salvaged and restrung onto one length of waxed linen cord.
The Kate Turner Button Collection as this one is called. I salvaged the diamond shaped label attached at the center of the original framed piece, however the ink was very brittle and the “ur” in Kate Turner’s last name flaked off. All the rest of the “label” is original and intact at this time and preserved under laminating sheets.
Buttons include ordinary old coat buttons scuffed and worn by age, 2 different colonial pearl coat buttons, a transfer black fly button, a glass cameo set in metal, a number of drum buttons in various sizes with insets and patterns, over 30 different intact kaleidoscope buttons, clambroth glass and white glass buttons, china buttons in colors and patterns, charmstring glass in assorted colors and shapes, waistcoats, glass set in metal, glory button, radiants, dewdrops, a lot of hard rubber buttons that were originally black but have turned brown due to sunlight and heat exposure (one large button shows a crescent of the original black color as it was tucked behind another button when displayed), black glass, old black glass, vegetable ivory, a small vegetable ivory keg button (may have been another variant of a Harrision campaign cider keg button).
A total of 925 buttons survive. There are four pad back in the collection that are not mounted to prevent further damage. Broken buttons, shanks, and assorted items have been saved and stored as well as pievces of the original string to show age.
Very beautiful but very fragile collection now preserved for the future.
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