Page 39 - May1954

May, 1954 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN tto

CARVED IVORIES MOUNTED UNDER GLASS
By J.lNs F. Anlus AND LrrJrrrAN S. Ar,ennr
The notable group of sixteen buttons illustrated here shor-s us how
an 18th century button-maker (following the practice of his day) em-
plo;'ecl yet another of the "precious" arts that he found at hand.
.We
say "yet another art" not so much to reemphasize the rich
craftsmanship of the time as to underline the new discoveries being made
by discriminating observers. The January Bulletin described a set
of hair-painted buttons, the first of their kind to be brought to public
attention as far as we know. Now we have another first, a technique for
cutting (or carving) button medallions from parchment-thin sheets
of ivory, illustrated by the buttons so made.
As is well known, miniature painters began to use similar sheets
to draw upon in the l8th century and by the end of the century many
miniatures on ivory found their way into button frames. There may
possibly be some connection between that use of sheet ivory and the
development of carved ivory sheets. There may also be a connection
between the popularity of papyrotamia and the somewhat similar
appearing cut-out ivory. The passion for ivory work of all kinds in the
18th century need hardly be mentioned..
As can be clearly seen in the enlarged
photograph, the medallions were produced
by cutting the disk out until only a narrow
rim remained to preserve the sircular
shape and anchor the eenter design
through points of contact.
Alfred Maskell, whose book on ivories
is a standard source for information on
the subject, explains the method by which
such work was done. After describing
some small plaques which resemble the ones
enclosed in these buttons. Maskell writes.
"Dieppe was celebrated for tours de force
of this kind. . . . The method employed was to glue thin sheets of ivory
upon wood, and with fine gravers and infinite patience, hacking up the
substance in various ways; as the work proceed.ed, these tiny figures and
foliage, the leaves of which a breath would almost suffice to break, these
garlands and festoons and openwork were aehievecl."

The interest in these buttons, as Maskell suggests, is scarcely at all
in what the designs picture. It is purely in their ornamental effect-
iveness. The subjects are standard (to say the least); they are the
things a Frenchman saw a hundred times a day wherever he looked
. . . a garlanded amoretto, a set of musical symbols, a conventionalized.
shepherdess. Nor are they limned with any distinction on the button
medallions; any copyist could have drawn them quickly and easily.