Wednesday 9 March 2016

'Old Buttons' by Sylvia Llewelyn - A fantastic little book!

I have bought this book because it was sold on a website dedicated entirely to buttons. The book is actually written by the owner of the website, which is also a shop, where you can buy a selection of vintage buttons. So I assumed it must be a truly interesting one. And well, I wasn't wrong!




The book is full of  beautiful close-up pictures and a brief history of both button-making process and the materials used over the centuries. I appreciate the fact that the buttons are photographed with no background, as the opposite is usually the case, which is pretty disturbing (the good side is that if the photographs are old, or the book is a bit aged, then you can guess the difference in colour from the original).




What also struck me in this book is that it included the history of the buttons from the very beginning, when primitive button-like forms were used. Although there are definitely fewer pictures of those, or, in some cases, none at all, the author tried to include examples from all over the world.


Buttons made of nuts? Why not!

I do recommend the book both as an interesting reading and for reference. There is always something new to learn!

To buy the book or read more, go HERE.