Page 30 - January1948

28 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN
over it. The design was inscribed with a needle and then cut out 'lvith a
snarp tnite, expos-ing the pearl surface beleath. For sharpness of detail,
trGcti coto. was-added as a delicate outline or wherever needed for accent.
Regarding the subject of the painting, it is said that antiquity be-
queathe-rl to tfe ltatian revival of art what was actually 1ot a child but au
immortat type of the imagination appearing as a child and called by the name
oipror, Ambr, and Cupid. He was usually lepresented as a beautitul chubby
boy carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows in his hands. since the 15th cen-
tuiy, trowevlr, one fl1ds him playing and toppling among the arabesques'
palace walls and ceilings-very round and fat rvith short or butterfly wings,
iu" see him springing, diving and soaring overhead, by the side of many of the
older paintin-Ss ana quite often he carries a torch or a wreath of flowers in
his hands, just as he is pictured here.
The design is fineli drawn and painted in beautiful transparent tlnts on
the ivory plaque, and the general effect of the whole picture is most pleasing.
S. A.
-L.
ENGRAVINCS UNDER GLASS
BY THELMA SHULL
Button collectors often add new members to their ranks because the
.,oddity" of old buttons appeals to the novice. But after a collector is well
establiihed in his hobby, with several thousand buttons sorted, classified'
and mounted his interest turns nore to the serious aspect or the study of
materials and methods used in making buttons duriug various years. The
pictures or designs on buttons sometimes help in identifyiug the year in
which they were made. Buttons which clearly depict fashions of a previous
era, such as the examples shown here, are always appreciated by the serious
collector.
In the BUTTON BULLETINS for October 1946 and May 1947' were illus-
trated ivory buttons, with miniature paintings showing the millinery styles
of the 1780's. They had silver rims.

ENGR.A.IIED PORTRAITS
(Actual size 76/s inches.)