A Baker's Dozen for Mrs. D.

I went to my blog site Monday morning and discovered that I was the fortunate recipient of a most original and handsome suede bag, a gift from Mrs. D. of 1893 Victorian Farmhouse. She cleverly incorporated my profile portrait, as well as her signature fob with a double button. Isn't that neat?!

 There's a surprise on the inside, too!

Thank you, Mrs. D.! I will be looking forward to mail call!

Mrs. D. let me know that she was going to do this project (she'd been thinking about it for a while), so I told her that I'd reciprocate with some antique buttons. This would be a blogging "cultural exchange."

from A Girl and Her Duenna  |  Murillo  |  c. 1670  |  National Gallery of Art

For Mrs. D., I've chosen a set of twelve 19th-century steel cut buttons, above. It's rather rare to find sets like this. It comes from a generation that removed and reused buttons, so I suppose one garment wore out, and these were set aside for another.

A view of an individual button,

which is slightly cup-shaped.

To make it a baker's dozen, here's a Victorian button that has an Art Nouveau look to it. It's approximately two inches in diameter, and I believe it might be made of celluloid.

Thanks again, Mrs. D.!
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