Brass Oval Small Flower Sleeve Buttons, SL-0026

Sleeve buttons were used on the sleeves of men’s shirts and women’s shifts from the early 18th to the early 19th century. Cuff links are often confused with sleeve buttons but are structurally different. Sleeve buttons have been found in such numbers at archaeological sites from Ft. Michilimackinac, Michigan to Williamsburg, Virginia people of all economic standing wore sleeve buttons. Sleeve buttons were issued to soldiers of many military regiments including the 17th of Foot in 1776 and the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment in 1778. Sleeve buttons are frequently described in trial records, for example in the 1784 Proceedings of the Old Bailey in London a man “was indicted for feloniously assaulting Richard Dillon , on the King’s highway . . .  eighteen pair of metal sleeve buttons, value 1 s.”