Tailors ivory buttons. Diamond Make. [Vegetable Ivory buttons salesman sample catalogue]. by [FASHION -- BUTTONS] - 1911.

[England: n.p.], 1911. Tall 8vo. 5 pp. on thick card stock printed in gilt & black (7 x 10.24 in.), with 240 vegetable ivory buttons, all with stock numbers below, and to the side, many in the dark brown patterned material, some jet black, and many with incised, or woven patterns, each page with padded pink silk leaves to protect the buttons, each of the cards has some contemporary ink annotations below the buttons, or along the side in the margins. Quarter-black calf over black pebbled cloth, gilt lettering & design on front cover, spine (minor chipping & tearing to head of spine affecting lettering, slight shelfwear), still a VG- exemplar, with the buttons entirely complete and in perfect condition. First edition of this very scarce and beautiful Edwardian button sample catalogue. Included are a number of different styles of buttons in vegetable ivory for clothing, coats, sportswear and more, which were sold by this English manufacturer for export. Vegetable Ivory is a very dense material that is manufactured into buttons from the Corozo nut that grows on the Tague Tree, a type of Palm. It was named Vegetable Ivory in the 19th Century because it resembles real ivory, but was not as heavy or dense. These types of buttons were first introduced at the 1862 International Exhibition in England and then reached full popularity at the 1867 Paris Exposition. The sample buttons preserved here, come in pressed, carved, and fine lined patterns, some of them painted with a dark flat black, other shiny black, and many with a beautiful rich shiny mottled effect. During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and prior to the growth in production and popularity, these were the buttons of choice for men’s suits. No copies located in Worldcat.