History sewn up in buttons
PARIS - Buttons were an invention waiting to happen. Since the dawn
of time when early man draped himself in animal pelts, he has
needed a way of opening and closing his clothing. An exhibition in
Paris pays tribute to this often unconsidered but essential item,
showcasing around 1,500 of the rarest and most beautiful buttons
amassed by French collector Loic Allio over 20 years.
From left to right: Ceramic, metal button from the 1940s by
François Hugo for Elsa Schiaparelli. Button with pearls on
metal from the 1960s by Roger Jean Pierre for Yves Saint
Laurent. Bronze button from the 1930s by Alberto Giacometti
for Elsa Schiaparelli. All photos © EG
Atelier
Nobody knows when the first button emerged, but it was probably a
piece of bone or shell, attached by string. Prehistoric buttons
have been found in Egypt, Iran and Greece.
The earliest examples in the show include Chinese buttons in agate
from the Han tombs dating back to the Dian kingdom (206 BC to 220
AD). Buttons tend to survive long after the fabric they were sewn
onto has rotted away.
The golden age of the button was in 18th century France, when they
adorned redingotes and waistcoats. At the time of the French
Revolution 1,000 workers were employed in the button industry.
The best buttons were exquisite miniature works of art, such as
black and white or hand-tinted engravings, covered in glass and
encased in metal circles.
Gift sets of fine buttons made by goldsmiths were considered
suitable wedding presents.
Some were commemorative. The show has examples marking events as
diverse as the first hot air balloon flight by the Mongolfier
brothers in 1780, George Washington's investiture, the abolition of
slavery, and the storming of the Bastille in Wedgwood-style blue
and white porcelain.
It also has a few of the 18th century's answer to pornography:
buttons with erotic drawings which "libertines" wore concealed
behind their lapels or inside their collars.
By the 19th century production became more industrialised, with the
use of transfers replacing handpainted porcelain, although fine
materials such as horn, tortoiseshell, silver, copper and ivory
were still commonplace.
Buttons also reflected the main artistic movements of the day --
Art Nouveau in the 1890s and Art Deco in the 1920s, when early
plastics suddenly became fashionable.
The emergence of haute couture at the end of the 19th century
created a big demand for unique, one-off buttons. In its heyday
between the 1930s and 1950s there were more than 80 couture fashion
houses in Paris, putting out four collections a year, providing
work for 15 specialist suppliers, who also made belt buckles and
hat pins.
Among the big names, now forgotten, were the writer Victor Hugo's
grandson Francois Hugo, who was a friend of Jean Cocteau, Max
Ernst, Jean Arp and Pablo Picasso, and Henri Hamm, whose circle
included the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and artists Amadeo
Modigliani and Henri Douanier Rousseau.
Hugo and Hamm created exclusive buttons for the great couturiers,
the likes of Worth,Poiret, Doucet and Elsa Schiaparelli, of
which the exhibition has a fabulous selection.
The show is being staged by the Mona Bismarck Foundation on the
Avenue New York, overlooking the Eiffel Tower. A chance to see the
former Paris home of the late American socialite and beauty alone
is worth the detour.
The exhibition is open until August 14.by Sarah Shard