Buttons

1900? Brass button with black background. A bird and her young? 1” in diameter. Unknown source. This button is a mystery to me. We have found it among our buttons in 2025 and have no record of how it came to us. I cannot think of what fable it might represent, if it represents a fable at all. A bird on a branch looks down on young below. Attempts to find a similar button online have yielded wild and unhelpful results.

1890? 1 circular FC button, brass, .75" in diameter. Unknown source. The image is familiar. This is one of our smaller buttons. No rim. The button itself is of one-piece construction, with a metal eyelet welded onto the back.

1890? One FK button. 1.2" in diameter. Unknown source. This is our only FK button. The steels surrounding the "King" are the tops of reeds. One of them is missing. The button is crimped slightly. This metal button is stamped through the back. There is no other backing.

1900? Large (1½") button depicting "The Peasant of the Danube." Unknown source. This exemplar seems darker than our original button but seems otherwise identical.

1890? A large FG button, 1.4" in diameter. Unknown source. This large button varies the details of the usual FG pattern. Notice the single railing rather than two parallel railings on the fence. This fox has his left paw raised to make an attempt at the grape. In a similar vein, his right rear paw is already climbing.

1890? 2 FS buttons, 1.25" in diameter, with black celluloid background. Unknown source. These two were found among uncatalogued materials in 2025 and seem to match other buttons in design but not in size. It is not clear that they were originally purchased together.

1890? A brass FG button 1.1" in diameter, following the pattern of two buttons already in the collection, acquired from Goldbarg and Larner. Unknown source. As with those two buttons, we see a tree with a high picket fence on the left. There is nothing on the ground in the foreground and the fox has his left paw on the first step of a simple ladder leading toward the grapes. Unlike other FG buttons, this has a plain rim of the same material as the button.

Ruth W. Wilson

1900? Large (1½") button depicting "The Peasant of the Danube." $25 from an unknown source, August, 2022. La Fontaine's fable tells the story of a German peasant who visits Rome as an ambassador for his people during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The peasant tells the Senate about the cruelty of life under Roman rule, and his eloquence earns the senators' respect. La Fontaine describes him as ragged and hairy. I am curious about where this button would be most appropriate.

1890? One FS button, ½" in diameter, showing the stork from FS with a long tall vase. $10 from an unknown source at an unknown time. One of the smallest buttons in our collection. Might there have been a matching mini-button of the fox and a shall dish? I had to scan this little gem, print it, and rotate it for a while before I could make out the tiny figures.

1890? One FS button, ½" in diameter, showing the stork from FS with a long tall vase. $10 from an unknown source at an unknown time. One of the smallest buttons in our collection. Might there have been a matching mini-button of the fox and a shall dish? I had to scan this little gem, print it, and rotate it for a while before I could make out the tiny figures.

1890? 1 silver WC button, .6" in diameter. Paris: Solidaire Bte SGDG, A P & Cie, Paris. Gift of Robin Larner, Rochester, NY, May, '99. Extra for $3.25 from Darlene Focazio through Ebay, May, '99. Identical with the bronze button described just above. Might this button be slightly larger than that? The silver buttons in this series are harder to read than the bronze.