Sleeve buttons

Status

On view

Label Text

George Washington was always attentive to the details of his wardrobe. Shortly before his retirement from the presidency, he acquired a new pair of gold enameled sleeve buttons of which this example is one. Sleeve buttons, early versions of cuff links, were used to fasten the cuffs of a gentleman's shirt. Though these were often hidden from sight by the sleeve of Washington's coat, their sleek enamel surfaces punctuated by abstract gold accents presented a fine example of the jeweler's art.

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Datec. 1797

Retailer Dickinson & Company

Geography Made - England

Medium/TechniqueGold, enamel

DimensionsOverall: 3/4 in. x 1 in. x 3/8 in. (1.91 cm x 2.54 cm x 0.97 cm)

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of the Regent, Vice Regents, and Vice Regents Emeritae of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association in honor of James C. Rees and in appreciation of his many years of dedication and service, 2008

Object numberW-2558

DescriptionEnameled gold oval sleeve buttons; the obverse of each button is ornamented with a central lozenge-shaped arrangement of four stylized feathers in gold in an oval reserve of white enamel surrounded by a blue enamel border on an engine-turned ground followed by a white enamel border that is punctuated with twelve evenly spaced gold dots; between each of the enameled borders and around the outside is a narrow tooled gold border; at the center of the reverse of each button is a loop shank; the buttons are joined by a figure-eight form gold link that passes through the shank of each button.
Published ReferencesMartha Gandy Fales, "The Jewelry," The Magazine Antiques 135/ 2 (February 1989): 515.

Martha Gandy Fales, Jewelry in America: 1600-1900 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995), 125.

Edmund Law Rogers, "Some New Washington Relics. II. From the Collection of Edmund Law Rogers, Esq.," The Century Magazine 40/1 (May 1890): 25.

Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States. Committee on Art and Exhibition, Catalogue of the Loan Collection of Portraits, Relics, and Silverware Exhibited at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, April 17th to May 8th, 1889 (New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company, 1889), #374, 85.

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