Button
Description
Brown silk button, thread weave is still intact, no tears in the fabric. A flat button known as a death head button with silk twine woven around bone former. Death head buttons are actually just wooden buttons weaved with colourful thread in a crisscross design which looks like the crossed bones under the skull. The term “death head” comes from the German word Totenkopf, which literally translates to “dead man’s head.” Before and during the 18th century it was used as a memento mori - a reminder that life is short and should be lived as well as possible. The buttons construction is easy to explain, but difficult to make. Threads are wrapped and woven around a wooden mould, with each successive wrap securing the one before. No glue is used. The silk or linen thread wraps of the most basic death head button form a simple but elegant cross-shape.
See full details
Object Detail
Width: 5mm