03/30/2026
On two recent commissions, we were afforded the great delight of working with some vintage J.R. Gaunt & Sons buttons.
Aside from the “cool” factor of working with buttons produced by such a storied maker of British military and civil service buttons, they’re also much closer to the original buttons commonly seen on officers’ wear in the late 18th century.
Many officers’ buttons in the period were of a metal repousse construction, consisting of a silver or silver-plated brass front around a bone or wooden back. This technique was also prevalent on high-end civilian wear of the times.
These Gaunt buttons are of a very similar construction with a silver-plated brass repousse front, but over a “modern” (early 19th-century) silver-plated brass back and shank. They really espouse the fineness, fidelity, and lightness so characteristic of original officers’ buttons of the era.
It was very special to be able to work with something that had such a history, and had so many of the same characteristics of original buttons.
