Classic Design Silver Handled Button Hook - Hallmarked Birmingham 1919

Here we have a useful steel buttonhook with a simple and classic handle shape.  The silver handle is smooth with a curved shape with a 'waist'  and is undecorated.  This antique silver accessory has the makers marks B.P.D.C. and the anchor mark to show it was assayed in Birmingham, the lion passant hallmark to show it is 925 sterling silver and the year mark for 1919. It is in good condition with just a few tiny dents which shows it has been used but it isn't in bad shape at all for a 90 year old!  This buttonhook  measures six and three quarter inches in total, 4 inches for the steel with the remaining two and three quarter inches being the sterling silver handle which is approximately three quarters of an inch at its widest point. Ready to be used now for undoing and fastening buttons on a bride's dress or perfect to add to a collection of antique silver buttonhooks and sewing accessories.

A Testimonial from Mrs. Jemma Traynor -

'Thank you for the buttonhook, it was the most useful thing for helping with the small buttons on the back of my silk wedding dress.  My bridesmaid found it so easy to use.  We both think that it saved her manicured nails from any damage too!  I also have a pretty antique as a keepsake and feel sure that it may come in handy again.'

More information for collectors -

There is a strong  interest in buttons and buttonhooks of all kinds not just in the UK but across Continental Europe and the USA too.   A recommended publication is the Shire Book 'Buttonhooks and Shoehorns'  ISBN 0-85263-696-2 which traces the origins of these collectables. With lots of photos, it explains the various types of hook :-glove hooks, boot buttonhooks, combination hooks with a shoehorn etc.,  the many materials used to make them:-real gold and silver, to steels with other handles - mother of pearl, horn, ivory, bone, early plastics, bakelite, celluloid and other metals. There is information about how they were used for early advertising and  the methods of manufacture in the 19th Century and early 20th Century and the reasons why they became popular and, as fashions changed, fell out of favour.