Page 14 - January1948

L2 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN

THE C. F. G. R. SCHWERDT COLLECTION OF HUNT BUTTONS
The sale in 1939 of the Schwerdt collection of books. matruscripts.
prints and drawings relating to Hunting, Hawking and shootiug was an
important event in the histoly of collecting. Mr. Schwerdt was a pioneel'.
On^ly a few collectors befo'e irim took spo.t as their' field, but he was the
firs[ to set out to make a fully c6mplehensive collectiotr embl'acing the
three leading branches of sport which appealed to him. Some ten years
before his death he was able to say, "my collection contains between eighty
and ninety percent of all the essential books." During the latel years ot
rri. rit" he augmented it very largely so that at the time of his death it stood
without a rival in its iilcleasingly populat' sphele.
In.1928 he compiled a monumental crltalogue which was _published
in thiee splendi6ly iliustrated volurnes aud completed by a Supplement in
193?. His collection replesented cotnplete catholicity and ranged from the
lfiaAt" Ages down to th6 present day including items from all the countries
oi lrre wo"rtO, and he set liimself to obtaiu each itern in the finest state and
condition.
Four lal'ge illustrated Catalogues were issued by Sotheby & Co" of
t-ondon and eight days were devoted to the Auction Sales. The Saies began
i" iut" lt"v concluded in the middte of July, 1939. I. notice_that item
;o;t;.i++Z ""a ir made up of "Impressions of a set'ies of Animals, Bit'ds, etc..
illustrative of Britistr Fietd Spoits; from a set of silver buttons drawn by
e. Coop"., Esq., R. A' and engraved by Mr' John scott' (There are sixteelr
'rnedallions on which are stamped impressions of the silver
""i."4 "i."utar'-
buttons, panelled back with emblernatic stamps)."
His world collection of llunt Buttons was also sold and quite t'ecently
ilris collection catne to America and today it is owned by Mrs. Achilles H.
Kohn. I was fortunate in being able to look over the three l'ed leather
.u."J equipped with d.awe.s in ivhich two buttons (vest and coat size) of
each design ate mounted on cards specially designed for thern and each is
p."p"itv ldentified. The title, HUNT BUTTONS, appea.s in gold lettering
on each case.
At our next National show, Mrs. Kohn will exhibit this splendid col-
lection in the cases so that all collectols may see them as they were
ir.ii-"lfy set up. 11 each BULLETIN, we will be preselting identified
rru-NC buttons ano in due time, we will be building up this classification to
one of great value.
WearepresentingthistirneagroupofAmer.icanHUNTButtonsandit
tu.y t that'some of you will now be able to identify some in your owlr
"
collection.
I might add that all of the buttous in this collection ale in proof cotr-
dition, many ale exquisitely engtaved,and chased, and they appear to be
stitn"."aorheavilygilt,irrfacfnranyhavetheappear.anceofgold.Some
*o"ogiarna are r.iised,-others depressed, still othe.s e'g.aved. The same
holds for other devices on the buttons'
L. S. A.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Mr.H.W.Carlson'ourshowMa,nager,wishestoarrrrouncethatsince
ttre pxtrifition Hall ir-r Cleveland is so spacious, he is planning to allot more
.i"* l" .".rr State fo1 the States Educational Exhibitiols aud suggests that
aii State Clubs begin work on their projects for our Tenth Annivelsnry Sholr'
which we hope will be the very best to date'
He also adds that the announcement regarding silver cup placements
witt Ue-siven in the March BUTTON BIILLETIN, so that everyorle will have
plenty of time to develop the fields.