Page 31 - January1960

January, 1960 NAfiONAL BUTTON BUI,LETIN 29

equestrian portrait of Washington, (after a statue which surmounts his monu-
ment in the capitol square ai Richmond,) surrounded with a wreath composed of
ttre principal agricultural products of the Confederacy, (cotton, tobacco, sugar
cane, corn, wheat and rice,) and around its margin the words, 'The Confederate
States of America: Twenty-Second February, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-T\*ro'
with the following motto 'Deo Vindice'." The resolution was approved April 30th,
1863 (C.S. Statutes at Large) and thus we have an accurafe description of that
Seal (no.2).
Steps were taken to have the Seal drawn and executed, and Joseph C. Wyon,
chief engraver of Her Majesty's Seals, at 287 Regent St., London, was engaged to
cut the die. The Seal was to be engraved in silver (metal the S,bafe Seals of Eng-
land were executed in, which offers proof againsL rust, so often destructive to
Seals executed in steel) and would eost abut $700 in U.S. currency; one-half of
this amount was given March 21, 1864 when ihe work was begun. The Seal was
completed by JuIy 2nd, 1864 and the bill was paid by ctreck on July 6th.
The Seal togefher with the spring lock and screw press, 3000 wafers, 1000 seal
papers, 1000 parchment strips, 100 brass boxes, 100 cakes of wax, 100 silk cords and
1 perforator were packed in three tin-lined cas€s and sent by personal envoy to
Bermuda and from thence to the Capitol at Richmond. There was a reverse to the
Seal but this we never see.
There was little official use for the Seal norv. since the War was concluded the
following year. Some years later, however, electrotype impressions were made of
it and sold for the relief of the many needy and afilicted people in the Souttr. Itre
Seals were finished in gold, silver, bronze (i.e. gilt, plated etc.) and the price for
them, then, was from five to seven dollars each, according to the cases in which
tlrey were mounted. Today, these impressions of the Great Seal of the Confede-
rate States of America are indeed collectors pieces.
The pale blue enamel of the inner band contrasts well 'ffith the darker blue
enameled outer border and each color is enhanced by the beautiful gold trim.
There is little wonder that this beautiful SeaI is being reproduced on buttons for
present day collectors.
L. S. A.

THE WELLING PATENTSi trF 1A7EJ
Early in 1870 William L. Welling of New York City obtained a U. S. patent
for a composition material suitable for button making. He described it a.s "re-
sembling horn."
Later that same year he was granted a second patent for a "divided die with
recesses for the shanks," of buttons made from plastic materials (see die illustra-
tion No. 1). The oval button, No. 2, appears to be the produci of both patents. The
material is a reddish-brown composition; the backmark is "Wm L. Welling/Pat.
Oct. 25, 1870." Both fhe mark and the design of a deer being chased thru a thicket
by a dog are molded in fine relief. The front is partially recessed with the highest
point of the design rising above the rim.
A.&A.