POST MEDIEVAL BUTTON

1560

Dora Thornton reports: Silver filigree biconvex button, constructed in two hemispheres soldered together of openwork filigree loops of twisted and plain silver wires. Central knop on one upper side, remains of an attachment loop at the other. 1.4 mm diameter. Unusual type and construction, almost identical to a button from South -West Devon dated to 16th Century in Brian Read, Metal Buttons, 2005, no. 373 where the fashion for this kind of filigree of Scandinavian type at Elizabeth I's court is discussed. These buttons may not be English as they resemble 16th Century Swedish and Finnish types. The fashion was probably introduced by visiting Swedish nobles in the 1560s such as Helena Snakenburg, who married the Marquess of Northampton and who is painted in a well-known portrait wearing exceptional jewellery. This kind of filigree work could also have been copied in English workshops around that time. Compare another very similar button from Rowington Warwockshire, 2009 T374.Acquired by the British Museum, acquisition number 2010,8036.1