Auction closes to new bids (extended bidding after 9 pm CT on high activity lots):
#1 18th-C Pink Monochrome Enamel
This lovely 18th-C enamel from England’s South Staffordshire area features a pink monochrome scene of a shepherd carrying a lamb, as another lamb is nearby. The white enamel base features raised dots and textured flourishes. Counter-enameled reverse with copper wire loop shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $625
Next minimum bid: $675
#2 Motiwala Stained Glass Enamel
#3 Man in the Moon
#4 Micromosaic Bird with Flowers
A flowery bower shelters a little bird on this colorful micromosaic scene. Strips of metal form the tail and wings of the bird, an unusual additional material to this type of inlay. Silver mount with rim and roped border. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $130
Next minimum bid: $140
#5 Stormy Weather
#6 Hallmarked Nouveau Enamel
A lively design in cobalt enamel on silver from the Art Nouveau era with Mackintosh Roses. Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect and designer whose stylized rose later became an Art Deco icon. Reverse shows Birmingham city marks with 1909 date mark. Maker’s mark L.E. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $175
Next minimum bid: $185
#7 Cameo Shell Portrait Quatrefoil Border
#8 Staffordshire Enamel
A lovely and scarce Staffordshire enamel over copper from the late 18th or early 19th century. Handpainted floral sprigs are centered with a beautiful band of blue encrusted with gold and white flourishes. White counter-enameling. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $200-400.
Current bid: $198
Next minimum bid: $208
#9 18th-C Pearl 7-Pt Paste Star
A seven-point silver star is set with glittering crystals in this beautiful 18th-C carved pearl with beaded outer and inner borders and a ring of faceted mirrored pastes. The center star is mounted over a thin gilded copper plate. Flat copper wire loop pinshank construction. Est. selling price is $200-400.
Current bid: $230
Next minimum bid: $255
#10 Gilt Sporting Horse
#11 Small Wedgwood Medallion
#12 18th-C Patterned Copper
#13 18th-C Steel with Pearl
#14 Classical Jasperware Revival
#15 18th-C Passementerie Duo
Two 18th-C examples depict a similar design utilizing two different techniques. One is a gilt metal repousse of a sequined and metallic thread branch design, and the other is a passementerie creation with a triple branch motif of actual sequins and metallic thread. The repousse has a woodback with catgut shank. The other has a linen padback. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $160
Next minimum bid: $170
#16 Old Natural and Iron Quartet
#17 Early Molded-Top Glass
#18 Triangular Gay 90s
#19 Rooster Head on Wood
#20 Kittens in a Basket Enamel
#21 Elephant Head Brass
#22 Boy and His Dog
#23 Cat and the Mirror
#24 Rooster Head Horn
#25 Practically Extinct Steel Cup
Small but mighty, here is the rarest and most desired of steel cups. This elephant head has only ever been found in this small size. The brass head is against a pearl background and features a steel tusk. Unfortunately, this mighty fellow has seen a few too many battles. His once curled trunk is a shorter snout. Wire U shank. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $423
Next minimum bid: $448
#26 Scarce Size Captive Poodle
#27 Artist Painted Pavone Cats
#28 Large Arita Siamese Cat
#29 Siamese Kittens Lacquerware
#30 Scalloped Lacy Glass
#31 Calkins Flowers of the Month
A complete set of 12 porcelain flowers created by Lois Calkins in the 1970s. Includes: Violet, Orchid, Dahlia, Poinsettia, Carnation, Easter Lily, Day Lily, Rose, Pansy, Chrysanthemum, Daisy, and Orange Blossom. The name of each flower is on its reverse. The full set of these buttons is very difficult to find. Self-shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $115
Next minimum bid: $125
#32 Ivoroid Floral Spray
#33 Dove Overlay Pearl
#34 Artid Diana and Cupid
#35 Brooks Cherries
#36 En Grisaille Plate Enamel
#37 Roses Under Glass
Delicate pink roses and foliage handpainted on a natural material disk, set under glass, and mounted in a gilt brass rim and back. Even though the paint smeared at the time of, or soon after, construction, the effect rendered a sense of fleeting beauty. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $280
Next minimum bid: $305
#38 Ivoroid Rose on Wood
#39 Limoges Forget-Me-Nots
#40 Brass Head on Sheet Overlay
#41 Gates Godey Head Watch Crystal
#42 Gibson Girl Brass
#43 Foil Jewel with Satyrs
Two Satyrs are entrusted with the care of this gorgeous clear glass jewel over foil in the gilt brass mount. The goat-footed creatures are both playing instruments: one a flute, and the other panpipes. Gilt reverse with loop shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $228
Next minimum bid: $253
#44 Wheel Woodback Driver
#45 Purple Openwork Jewel
#46 Realistic Turtle
#47 V.I. Dragonfly Pictorial
#48 Victorian Star Celluloid
#49 Silver Mt. Fuji Lake Scene
Mt. Fuji in Japan is depicted in the background of this lake boating scene. Five lakes were formed from eruptions of the volcano, and the silver button with gold wash may picture Lake Kawaguchi, the only lake of the five that includes an island. STERLING backmark with loop shank. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $80
Next minimum bid: $90
#50 Arita Seahorse
#51 Herons with Crowned Shield Livery
#52 Gay 90s Striped Oval Jewel
#53 Pictorial Peacock Eye
#54 Peacock Princess
#55 Sammoth Pottery Cat
This mid-20th century square ceramic button from the Sammoth Pottery company features an alert cat (or monkey?) glancing over its shoulder. Buttons from this company are quite scarce. They were known for whimsical products made during the 1950s. The applied plastic shank is original to the button. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $230
Next minimum bid: $255
#56 V.I. Raccoon
#57 Seaside Scene Enamel
#58 Rabbit and Frog
#59 Platypus Over Butterfly
#60 Turtle Hatchling V.I.
#61 Metal Hinge Duo
Two Victorian pictorials featuring elaborate wrought-iron style hinges. A large copper wafer with engraved detail is decorated with a brass half-circle of wallpaper pattern, a copper hinge, and two steel shapes. The medium is a tinted brass with blued cut steels holding the hinge to the wood-grained background. Loop shanks. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $60
Next minimum bid: $70
#62 Hand and Rose Pictorials
#63 The Kiss
#64 Glass in Metal Pair
A small and medium pair of Div. I glass in metal buttons. A brass bar separates two types of glass in each button. A black glass floral stem imitating beadwork is on one side and a rayed glass with aurora finish is on the other side. Loop shanks. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $45
Next minimum bid: $50
#65 Ribbon Border Enamel
#66 Cupid and a Rabbit Black Glass
#67 Shell Sphinx Steel Star Border
#68 XL Black Glass Jewel with Enamel
This extra-large elaborate Victorian showpiece is comprised of two black glass arches surrounding a center black glass cabochon, enamel butterfly-like border embellishment interspersed with clear pastes, and all adorning a lacy screen background. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $235
Next minimum bid: $260
#69 Danish Arts & Crafts Rose
#70 Dubois Tea Service
Charming Tea Service set crafted of painted leather by artist Nancy DuBois. Note the cute button decoration of the sides of the wares. OME includes wire teapot handle and paper and string tea bag. Still mounted on the artist’s original card. Signed and dated on the reverse, NB 1999. Metal loop shanks. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $245
Next minimum bid: $270
#71 Precision Glass Inlay Trio
#72 Victorian Ivoroid Tight Top
#73 Figural Enamel with Steels
#74 Gutta Percha Dragon
A fantastic find is this fantastic creature in gutta percha, molded with fabulous detail. The creature is perched on a dotted crescent as he curls his tail to fit within the button’s confines. Shown BBB PL 19-39. Brass loop shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $715
Next minimum bid: $765
#75 Arita Lily
#76 Letter Carrier
#77 Masonite Horse Race
#78 Steeplechase with Windmill
This white metal highly-detailed pictorial also depicts a steeplechase. Two riders on their horses race through the countryside with large windmill and trees in the background. A hoof-handled riding crop forms the border. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $150
Next minimum bid: $160
#79 Locomotive Uniform
#80 Pavone Parachuter Set
#81 Marquetry Balloon Moveable
#82 Cherub on Dolphin Transport
#83 Atlee Balloon
#84 Gaumond Balloonist
#85 Velvet Back Pattern
#86 Plique Enamel Silver Seashell
A superbly crafted silver seashell with plique-a-jour turquoise enamel by artist Michelle Raney. The artist uses fine silver in her work, which is .999% pure. This design can be seen on her website at www.Enanimals.com. Silver U shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $122
Next minimum bid: $132
#87 View from the Ship
#88 18th-C Harbor Scene
Though there is some age wear to this 18th century, the beautifully rendered painting still warrants a close look. A seaside castle, a ship moored in the distance, and a fisherman in the foreground are found in this watercolor on paper mounted under glass. Copper rim and iron back. The copper loop shank has been fortified. Est. selling price is $200-400.
Current bid: $235
Next minimum bid: $260
#89 Ship Engraving on Shell
#90 Lighthouse Over Butterfly Wing
#91 Black Glass Aristocrat
#92 Bimini-type Flame
#93 Cobalt Enamel with Steels
#94 Horsedrawn Omnibus Uniform
This one-piece brass uniform would have been worn by the coachmen in charge of a multi-passenger coach, or horse-drawn Omnibus. If you count both coachmen, passengers, and unseen passengers on the opposite side of the coach, 20 persons are on this transport. Backmark F.W.E. LEIPZIG with loop shank. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $233
Next minimum bid: $258
#95 NBS Commemorative Button
#96 Black Glass Zodiac
#97 Fabulous Bull Border
An attractive white metal with a center scene depicting a classic figure with a bull, perhaps the Greek hero Thesus, and the Marathonian Bull. Six bulls decorate the border in an interesting procession with three walking the inner ring border and three walking the outer ring border. Metal loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $234
Next minimum bid: $259
#98 18th-C Grotto of Meudon
An engraving on paper of King Henry II’s 16th-C belvedere. The architecture surrounds an artificial cave decorated in fantasy style. The entire structure was demolished in 1705. Tinned sheet-iron back, copper rim and loop shank. Est. selling price is $400-600.
Current bid: $815
Next minimum bid: $865
#99 18th-C Muse
#100 Bargas Dusk
A gilded Armand Bargas signed Art Nouveau era button featuring a woman’s head in profile against a sky with a star and flying bats. This is one of a series of four subjects representing the progression of a day through dawn (Aurore), day (Jour), dusk (Crepuscule), and night (Nuit). Nuit is shown BBB PL 232-5. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $60
Next minimum bid: $70
#101 Steel Cup Trio
#102 Jeweled Tolework
This unusual japanned pierced button with cricket cage construction reverse is etched and decorated with silver and gold paint. Prong-set pastes decorate each of the outer border pierced petal forms and the center petal outline. Backmark EPOS. Loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $97
Next minimum bid: $107
#103 18th-C Agate
#104 18th-C Copper Octagon
#105 Lavender Glass Lacy Spindle
#106 Harrison Log Cabin Political
A medium political button from the Harrison-Van Buren presidential campaign of 1840. This brass shows the log cabin with chimney and smoke on the left and a cider barrel prominently displayed to the right of the door to appeal to the hard drinkers. Similar examples shown BBB PL. 296. Loop shank. Backmarked “E. PRITCHARD, WATERBURY, CON.” Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $50
Next minimum bid: $60
#107 NRA Wood
This rare pressed wood button with a triad design is from the short two-year time period in U.S. history when the National Recovery Act was in place, from 1933 until 1935, when it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The March 1956 issue of NBS includes an article about this type of button on p. 88. Some were backmarked, others were not. This one is unmarked. Metal loop shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $168
Next minimum bid: $178
#108 Steel Star on Openwork Brass
#109 Blue and Silver Lacy Glass
A lovely Div. I lacy glass with radial design, purple and silver luster paint decorative finish. Shown in Joy Journeay’s book “Is it Lacy Glass,” p. 6 and 68, with pattern identified as Radial Design, R9-00. The reverse retains all of the original back paint. Four-way brass shank. Est. selling price is $60-100.
Current bid: $84
Next minimum bid: $94
#110 Complete Set Green Bulls-Eye
#111 Goodyear Dancing Frogs
#112 18th-C Lucernois
#113 18th-C Octagonal Shell
#114 18th-C Enamel Hound
#115 Medium Copper Colonial
#116 GW Inaugural Reproduction Set
The complete four-button reproduction set of George Washington inaugural buttons, originally issued by Liberty Village in Flemington, N.J., to commemorate the bicentennial. Bkmk REPRO 74 LIBERTY VILLAGE with applied copper loop shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $334
Next minimum bid: $359
#117 Washington Engraved Shell
#118 Lincoln on Horn
#119 Metal Waistcoat Quartet
From the first half of the 19th century come these four waistcoat size buttons including three medium steel and one small brass. The steel designs resemble hard white pewters of the same age. Other examples of these steels can be found BBB PL 73, 1-10. Loop shanks. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $43
Next minimum bid: $48
#120 Salt-Glazed Star Swirlback
#121 Cowrie Shell Portrait Steel Border
#122 Transitional Gilded Pierced Copper
#123 18th-C Steel Star
#124 Gilded Engraved Metal
#125 Realistic Blk Glass Minerva Head
A very scarce Div. I black glass helmeted head of Minerva with realistic shape. The detail on this small button is notable. The helmet is a bearded head in profile, Minerva’s features and hair are exquisitely molded, and a running horse is on her shoulder. Brass plate and loop shank. Est. selling price is $100-200.
Current bid: $430
Next minimum bid: $455
#126 Small Div. I Waiscoat Trio
Two Golden Age glass centered buttons in black and clambroth feature a swirled five-petaled design. This type of button originally known as Sandwich glass date to the 1830s. An example is shown BBB PL 59-42. The third waistcoat features a detailed helmet shell carving of a woman resting under a tree. The Golden Age are backmarked R.J.&CO PATENT (for Robinson, Jones & Co.). Loop shanks. Est. selling price is $30-60.
Current bid: $45
Next minimum bid: $50
#127 18th-C Verbal French Tombac
#128 18th-C Crowd on a Balcony
This intriguing 18th century subtly rendered painting under glass speaks to us across the centuries. Why have these people congregated? What rendered the scene notable in the artist’s eyes to place on a button? Are they listening to a speaker? Watching a procession? Copper rim. Tinned sheet iron reverse with copper wire loop shank. Est. selling price is $400-600.
Current bid: $1500
Next minimum bid: $1600
#129 18th-C Jasperware in Steel
A heavy steel mount with pierced border design and individually applied faceted steel jewels frames the center jasperware depicting a seated figure balancing a large shield with warrior head design. A lit pyre is atop a pedestal. Heavy half round steel loop shank. Est. selling price is $400-600.
Current bid: $275
Next minimum bid: $300
#130 18th-C passementerie
#131 Early Stuart Crystal
#132 18th-C Verbal Figural Repoussé
#133 18th-C Enamel on Copper
#134 18th-C Revolutionary Symbols
An 18th century reverse painting on glass featuring Revolutionary symbols of the estates crossed through a red center heart. A flecked gold mica border frames the center design. Copper rim. Sheet iron reverse with copper wire loop shank. Est. selling price is $400-600.
Current bid: $305
Next minimum bid: $330