Friends,
In my undying, mad quest for proper USSS eagle buttons, I recently turned to the civilian artisans for help. Surprisingly, without really searching too hard, I found a lady who has taught herself molding and casting using pigmented modern hard resins. She has worked primarily on reproducing original gutta-percha jewelry, belt buckles, etc. but also tried buttons. I was fortunate enough to receive samples of her work this week and am glad to report that they look GREAT!
The buttons she's tried to produce are the flat civilian type with the self-shank and hot-pressed woven fabric design on the front. While the faces of the button were perfect the shanks seemed to give her some trouble. Being self-shank buttons, they are a little more complicated to reproduce than the kind with inserted or embedded brass wire shanks. Given the level of detail and the quality of the material she used, I think that getting well made USSS buttons may happen soon.
I'm currently testing the buttons for fading, wear, scratching, durability, etc. etc. but everything looks ideal. With a little luck I will be able to have the buttons with both proper backmarks AND the embedded wire shank...if not then one or the other. I'd prefer backmarks and I can use small gauge modern screw-eyes (screwed in, removed, and then epoxied into place) to duplicate the shanks. Having either no backmark or a modern shank may also help to keep these off the market in the future.
As for cost, I don't yet have a solid quote but she thinks it may be under a dollar per button. I am looking to have sets of 15 coat and 6 cuff sized buttons made; this is enough for a frock, blouse, and forage cap. While the material she's using is perfect, and the black pigment and dull sheen is spot-on, I want to see if she can do some in a dark black-brown as per some originals.
I'll post photos here as I get the actual samples. She's using originals from my collection so with a little time and effort we should be able to get buttons of proper design and dimensions. I am REALLY hoping to have a few extra sets to sell to anyone here who is interested BUT I don't know how long this project will hold her attention!
Just wanted to update you guys on this!
_________________ Brian WhiteWambaugh, White, & Companyhttp://www.wwandcompany.com---------------------------------- Randolph Mess, U.S. Sharpshooters
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