Page 35 - March 2025

B
utton
March 2025 The NaTioNal ButtonBulleTiN 33

A wood back can refer to an 18th Century wood
button with a metal repoussé cap or metal top .

A wood background has a slice
of wood or woven wooden strips
behind the design .

slice of wood or woven wood strips peeking out from behind
a metal design or pictorial image. While it is correctly called
a “background”, the use of “wood back’ to refer to this but-
ton is not uncommon. So be sure when chatting about wood
backs everyone is on the same classification page.

“Jet” is a frequently misunderstood term. Queen Victoria,
during her mourning period from 1861 to 1901, made the Carved rose button
use of Whitby jet popular for both jewelry and buttons. The in Whitby jet .
cost of this gemstone forced less affluent Victorians
to substitute black glass for their haberdashery and
jewelry needs. The number of black glass buttons
produced was in the hundreds of thousands, if not
millions, with manufacturers in Bohemia and Ger-
many filling the demand.
The black glass used was referred to as “jet” and
this term stuck. The confusion between real jet
and black glass continues. The NBS classified it
as “Jet, Black Glass” in 1954. In the 1960s West
German manufacturers advertised their black glass
as “genuine jet” continuing the material misrepre-
sentation. Some collectors are fortunate to possess

Siberian Jet is a
gemstone that may
be found carved
into buttons .

Black Glass has been referred to “Jet Glass” in reference to
Victorian Jet, but the term is obsolete for button collectors
regardless of manufacturer’s continued use of the term .