🌟 Spectacular Estate Collection of 100% Genuine Antique, Vintage & Studio Shell Buttons 🌟
Up for sale is a premium, beautifully curated lot of antique and vintage buttons spanning roughly 140 years of incredible craftsmanship. Every single button in this collection consists entirely or partially of natural marine or freshwater shell. This lot showcases an extraordinary range of colors, intricate geometries, and mixed-material constructions that are highly sought after by serious button collectors.
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🎨 COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS & GROUP BREAKDOWNS:
1. Rare Pictorials, Novelties & Modern Studio Buttons
• The Western/Pictorial Duo: Includes a gorgeous white ocean pearl button featuring a finely detailed, etched Native American Chief portrait finished in a crisp golden line-fill. Alongside it is a highly detailed scene depicting a Horse and Pony by a country fence etched into a shimmering dark grey black-lip pearl disk. Both of these premium pieces are signed on the reverse by modern studio artist Kay ("Kay 2002" and "Kay F 2003").
• The Novelty Shapes: Features three highly collectible, whimsical Scottish Terrier (Scottie) dog shapes carved from white pearl shell, utilizing clean, unbroken front profiles with reverse-mounted box shanks.
• The Miniature Knife: A rare and unusual elongated miniature dagger crafted from thick pearl shell, featuring twin center-drilled holes. Includes a beautifully engraved, filled floral tulip button.
2. Heavy Metal Overlays & Multi-Material Construction
• Features premium late-Victorian and Edwardian bimetallic fasteners.
• Includes a beautiful pewter/white-metal floral overlay securely riveted through a mother-of-pearl base plate.
• Includes a gilded brass flower emblem inset perfectly into an iridescent pink-shell disk with a heavy brass loop shank.
• Includes a gorgeous rimshot-style coat button featuring a deeply incised spiral-swirl grey pearl face nestled inside a smooth, thick carved natural vegetable ivory rim. The reverse side features a vintage stamp clearly reading "PATENTED."
• Includes a geometric bicolor pieced inlay button setting white pearl slices into a solid dark composite backing.
3. Art Deco Geometrics & Non-Traditional Shapes
• A masterclass in non-round shapes from the 1920s to 1940s.
• Includes clean geometric triangles with recessed drilling fields, octagons, hexagons, and soft rectangles.
• Several pieces display a highly stylized raised-circle profile accented with a deeply recessed center square or diamond border surrounding the thread holes.
4. Intricate Carvings & Distinct Natural Shell Backs
• Radial Cuts: Includes stunning starbursts, radial wheels, whirlpool swirls, and pinwheels designed to maximize the natural iridescent luster of the shell.
• Natural Coloration: Several pieces showcase a beautiful yellow-gold hue on their reverse sides, showing they were cut near the natural hinge of premium Gold-Lip Pearl Oysters.
• Freshwater Utility Clues: Many of the utility pieces show raw, unpolished brown-yellow "bark" on their reverse sides, a classic indicator of late-19th-century American freshwater river mussel buttons from the Mississippi River basin.
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🔍 CONDITION NOTE:
These buttons are in excellent vintage/antique condition, showing beautiful natural luster, crisp edges, and minimal age-related wear. Please see the detailed front and back photographs provided to inspect individual shanks, manufacturing marks, signatures, and natural shell textures. All items sell together exactly as shown.
📦 SHIPPING: Safely packed and shipped securely to protect these brittle, historical pieces.
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