Name/Title
Set of Six Round Shank Buttons — Red with Gold-Tone RimEntry/Object ID
2025.1.395Description
Six round shank buttons of identical form. The face presents a smooth, slightly domed oval center panel in tomato red, recessed within a raised oval border inset with a continuous gold-tone metal ring. The overall profile is low and rounded. The reverse is red-painted plastic, molded with a central raised post from which a two-prong metal shank projects; the shank prongs are gold-tone and bent inward in the standard loop-and-clip configuration. The construction — a plastic body with a separately inserted metal rim — is characteristic of mid-century European decorative button production, widely distributed through Soviet-bloc haberdashery channels in the 1960s–1970s.Use
Belonged to Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezContext
Buttons of this decorative type — suitable for a blouse, dress jacket, or cardigan — were available in Cuba through state-run stores stocked with imported goods from COMECON trading partners, principally Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Bulgaria. Sets of unused or lightly used buttons preserved in the home are a characteristic object category within the Cuba Material collection's scope.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecitionMade/Created
Notes
Maker/Attribution: Unknown; no mark present. Construction consistent with Eastern European (tentative: Czechoslovak or East German) or Western European commercial button production.
Date: Circa 1960s–1970s (tentative).
Place: Unknown; likely Eastern Europe or Western Europe (tentative).Materials
Material
PlasticMaterial Notes
Plastic body (likely cellulose acetate or early acrylic; fiber type unconfirmed); gold-tone metal rim insert (base metal with gold-tone finish, likely brass-plated or gilded); metal shank (base metal, gold-tone finish).Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezNotes
ownerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
useCreated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
June 20, 2026Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 20, 2026
