THE BUTTON-MAKER.

Buttons are articles of dress serving to fasten clothes tight about the body. There are several kinds of buttons ; some are made of gold and silver lace, others of mohair, silk, horsehair, thread, metal, glass, &c.

The wrought buttons in silk, mohair, thread, &c. are chiefly made at Macclesfield, and form the staple commodity of the place. The use of them may be traced back nearly two hundred years ; they were formerly curiously wrought with the needle, and made a great figure in fall-trimmed suits. The form of buttons vary continually, as fashion prompts the wearer or the workmen.

Shirt buttons are made in considerable quantities at Axminster, in Devonshire. Metal buttons are principally made in Birmingham.

The process is very simple after the metal comes out of the founder's hands. The pieces of metal are either cast or cut to the proper size, and then sent to the button-maker, who has dies or stamps according to the pattern wanted.. The man stands in a place lower
than the floor, by which he is nearer on a level with the place on which his dies stand. By means of a single pulley he raises a weight, to the lower part of which is fixed another die ; he lets the weight fall down on the metal, which effects his object. After this operation they are to be shanked, which is performed by means of solder; they are then polished by women. At Birmingham this manufacture is carried on upon a very large scale. The late John Taylor, Esq. was the inventor of gilt buttons, and in his house, buttons have been manufactured to the amount of 800l, per week.

Besides those cast in a mould, there are great quantities of buttons made of thin plates. The plates are brought to a proper degree of thickness, by the rolling-mill: they are then cut into round pieces, of the size wanted. Each piece of metal thus cut is reduced to the form of a button by beating it in several spherical cavities, beginning with the flattest cavity, and proceeding to the more spherical till the plate has ail the relievo required ; and the more readily to manage so thin a plate, ten or a dozen of them are formed to the cavities at once. As soon as the inside is formed, an impression is given to the outside, by working it with an iron puncheon, in a kind of mould like minters' coins, engraven indentedly and fastened to a block or bench. The cavity of the mould in which the impression is to be made, is of a diameter and depth suitable to the sort of button to be struck in it ; each kind requiring a particular mould.

The plate thus prepared makes the upper part or shell of the button. The lower part is formed of another plate, made utter the same manner, but flatter, and without any impression. To this is soldered a little eye, made of wire, for the button to be fastened by.

The two plates are soldered together with a wooden mould covered with wax or rosin between, to render the button solid and firm ; for the wax or other cement entering all the cavities formed by the relievo of the other side sustains it, prevents its flattening, and preserves its design.:

Glass buttons are composed of glass of various colours. The glass is kept in fusion, and the button kept out of it while in that state, by a pair of iron moulds, like those for casting shot, adapted to the intended form of the button, the shank having been inserted in
the mould, so that it may become imbedded in the glass when cool.

In the year 1790, a patent was granted to Mr. Henry Clay, of Birmingham, for a new method of manufacturing buttons of slate or slit stone.

By 36 Geo. 3. c. 60, any person putting false marks on gilt buttons, erasing any marks except such as express the real quality, or any other words except real gilt, or plated, forfeits the buttons and incurs a penalty of 5l for any quantity not exceeding 12 dozen ; and if above, after the rate of 1l. for every 12 dozen. The penalty however does not extend to those who mark the words double and treble gilt, provided in the case of double gilt buttons, gold shall be equally spread upon their upper surface exclusively of their edges, in the proportion of 10 grains to the surface of a circle 12 inches in diameter, and in that of treble gilt, the gold shall amount to 15 grains in the same proportion.

The art of button-making, in its various branches, is encouraged and protected by divers acts of parliament. It is unlawful to import
foreign buttons; and buttons made of, or covered with cloth, cannot be worn, without subjecting the wearer to very severe penalties,
if any person choose to sue for the same.