Our Spring 2020 Auction opens for bidding April 1 and closes April 25! This is a Special Auction entirely devoted to the Strong Museum’s Margaret Woodbury Strong Button Collection. All 300 Lots are property of The Strong Museum, Rochester, N.Y., sold to benefit the museum’s Collections Fund. Register for this Auction TODAY to purchase bidding access AND this colorful keepsake catalog showing all 300 Lots.
Margaret Woodbury Strong
(1897-1969) Collector Deluxe, whose original collections were the foundation of the Strong National Museum of Play. Childhood travels with her parents to far away places began her lifelong collecting journey. By the late 1960s, her doll collection alone numbered more than 27,000. In later life, she opened her large home to visitors to view her “Museum of Fascination.” And in 1982, the Strong opened its doors to the public, thanks to her endowment, and to showcase her legacy. Photograph used with permission from the Strong Museum.
the Strong
The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y. is a highly interactive, collections-based museum devoted to the history and exploration of play. It is one of the largest history museums in the United States and one of the leading museums serving families.
bUTtoN PLayGrOUnD
With this Spring 2020 Auction we are enjoying a Button Playground! and what an apropos term for where Button Collectors spend time! Yes, button collectors pLAy with BUtToNs!
plaYinG with hisTory, aRt, DeSIGn, inDusTry, CULtuRE, ScIEnce, liTEraTuRe, theATre, craFt, cOLor, mATeRIal . . . did you know bUTtonS dO ALL thIS???
chirp . . . did you know we did all that? Well, one can understand a lot when one turns things this wAY Or tHAt . . chirp
ceRAmiC plAy
Enjoy this work (pLAy) in progress of a collector’s unsorted ceramic buttons. As more BuTtoNs come into PlaY the collector will move buttons to competition tray entry cards, or a decorated card for framing.
unSoRted FuN
Another collector’s card with recent purchases from button shows and online sellers. So Much fUN! Mounting your buttons on cards – even in an unsorted fashion like this – is a quick way to see where your button play is leading you. A card of gAMe BuTTons is in the works, as is a start to MUSHROOMs and MORe.
an OLD pLaYfuL cuPiD
Mythological subjects were playfully depicted on many antique buttons, such as this 18th century painting under glass featuring Cupid riding a Hippocampus, a sea-horse. (from private collection)
back tHen they hAd FUN, tOO
A long-ago collector put together this sweet card of fragile antique fabric buttons. While they should be moved to an acid-free mount, the delicacy of the paper-doily backing certainly has its own charm.
