Georgian buttons are very collectible and some can be very valuable depending on rarity and condition. Silver buttons were often made for gentlemen and many were made with hunting scenes on. Paste buttons are beautiful and can fetch high prices.
[cfgeo include=”GB”][/cfgeo]
[cfgeo exclude=”GB”][/cfgeo]
Below are some examples and price guides of Georgian buttons including a set of silver sporting buttons and an opalescent strass jeweled button emulating opals.
THREE SETS OF GEORGIAN SILVER BUTTONS WITH SPORTING ENGRAVING, London, Circa 1765-85
comprising: six with mounted huntsman under “Hark To Him,” by William Turton; nine engraved with hounds and game, 7 by Susanna Barker and 2 by Adrian Eastwick; and six later engraved with horses and jockeys, by Mark Bock. 21 pieces.
Sold for 10,000 USD at Sotheby’s in 2014
A set of twelve buttons, blue jasperware with a white relief, mounted in cut steel, made by Josiah Wedgwood and Sons in Etruria, the steel probably Birmingham, 1785-1800
These buttons are for a man’s formal coat. Large buttons became fashionable in the 1780s. By this date they were entirely decorative, as the coat was usually worn open over a matching waistcoat. The waistcoat would have had a set of smaller, matching buttons.
Reference: © Victoria and Albert Museum
A GOOD SET OF GEORGIAN SILVER HUNT BUTTONS Probably Irish, mid 18th century, unmarked each engraved with a hound on the run and individually named, “Gaudy, Drummer, Ringwood, Lady, Dido, Captain, Spanker, Rouser, Leader, Lovely, and Lilley”, diameter 2.7cm, weight 2.97oz.
Sold for £ 1,680 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2010
A SET OF EIGHT GEORGE III SILVER BUTTONS EACH ENGRAVED WITH HUNTING SUBJECTS MARK OF HENRY CROSWELL (I), LONDON, 1816 Comprising:- a pair of greyhounds running neck and neck, a hound, a horse, a fox in flight, a hunsman taking aim, accompanied by a hound, a huntsman loading his rifle, accompanied by his dog, a huntsman holding a fox by the scruff of his neck whilst beating off a baying pack of hounds with his whip and a huntsman jumping a fence
Sold for GBP 2,375 at Christie’s in 2012
A medium size opalescent and strass jeweled button. This 18th century Georgian silver based jeweled button is truly stunning. The center is a cluster of foil backed opalescent faceted cut glass imitating opals and bordered by a group of Strass crystal (a fine cut crystal invented by Frederick Strasser in the 18th century)
Sold for $325 at Lion and Unicorn in 2021
Georgian paste set buttons with blue enamel centres, set of five in unmarked silver 3 cm diameter
Sold for £150 at Ewbank’s in 2015
