1″ Black Horn Buttons

Black horn buttons have all the irregularity in color you would expect from a natural cow’s horn & are only 1/8″ thick. One inch is a good size for men’s coats & jackets. These strong durable buttons were competitive in price with other types but available in limited numbers in the 18th century since the making of them was slow. Being stamped or pressed out of horn these lack the center hole of the wood & bone molds. Rather these have two small holes. For example advertised in The Virginia Gazette of 1776, “RUN away . . .  in Frederick county, Maryland . . .  two Irish servant men, both weavers, [one of them] . . .  had on a short pale blue coat, that has been turned, double-breasted, with black horn buttons”.