Coat button

Status

Not on view

Label Text

In the 1790s, a taste for large, luminescent disks made of exotic materials such as shell or stone superseded the earlier fashion for modest-sized buttons of metal or fabric. Such buttons were employed on fashionable outerwear for women, including great coats and riding habits, as well as men's coats. This set of five pink conch shell buttons was among a larger set owned by George or Martha Washington. The expensive fasteners were later given to friends and family as relics of the venerable couple.

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Datec. 1789-1797

Geography Possibly made - United StatesPossibly made - United States

Medium/TechniqueConch shell, metal

DimensionsOverall: 1/2 in. x 1 3/8 in. (1.27 cm x 3.51 cm) Other (central boss): 3/16 in. x 3/16 in. (0.5 cm x 0.5 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Newman, 1984

Object numberW-2995/B

DescriptionPink conch shell button with japanned metal boss at center; smooth pink and white surface of the shell on obverse; dull white surface of the shell on reverse, except in areas where the dull white has been carved away to expose the pink surface; loop shank of copper alloy metal.
Published ReferencesWilliam Armstrong, "Some New Washington Relics, I. From the Collection of Mrs. B. W. Kennon," The Century Magazine XL: 1 (May 1890): 21-22.

Agnes Peter Mott, "List of the Peter Collection," 1937, 1.

Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon's Notebook, 1899, 19.

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