Button, Madras, c. 1850
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
c. 1850
These buttons were produced in India from locally-sourced raw materials. Most of the fashioning process would have been achieved using abrasive-charged discs and wheels on a bow-driven lathe. The holes would have been made using a bow-driven drill.
Nearly hemispherical buttons, of slightly varying size and profile, cut and polished, each with a single, central, vertical drill hole. Very pale grey, highly translucent.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 9.8 mm (Largest button); Height: 4.5 mm (Largest button); Diameter: 7.8 mm (Smallest button); Height: 2.95 mm (Smallest button)
- Materials and techniques
- Chalcedony, cut and polished using abrasives with the holes being made using a bow-driven drill.
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- Madras
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O472477
- Museum object number
- 08586(IS)
- Object history (museum record)
- These objects were formerly in The India Museum in London and were then transferred to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed The Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1879.
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.