Name/Title
Set of Twelve Square Shank Buttons — Cream/Greenish with Gold-Tone AccentsEntry/Object ID
2025.1.396Description
Twelve molded plastic shank buttons in a rounded-square (“cushion”/squircle) form with a raised square central panel surrounded by a channeled border, crossed at top and bottom by paired gold-tone bars that read as a stylized buckle or strap-and-ring motif. The body is an opaque cream/ivory plastic with a distinctly cool, slightly greenish cast. The gold-tone elements are inlaid metallic strips (or metallized plastic) set into molded channels. The reverse is gold-tone (metallic-finished), molded with a raised central self-shank pierced for thread and impressed with four small diamond/lozenge marks arranged around the shank — a decorative or registration feature of the mold.
The construction (molded plastic face with applied gold-tone trim and an integral self-shank, gold-finished reverse) is consistent with mid-to-late-twentieth-century decorative garment buttons of the kind distributed through haberdashery channels, including the Soviet-bloc imports that supplied Cuban mercerías.Use
Belonged to Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezCollection
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecition, The Cabrera Arús family collectionMade/Created
Notes
Maker/Attribution: Unknown; no maker’s mark present. Construction consistent with mid-to-late-twentieth-century European commercial button production (Eastern or Western Europe).
Date: Circa 1960s–1980s (tentative).
Place: Unknown; likely European import (tentative).Parts
Twelve buttons, all of one matching design and color.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezNotes
OwnerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
Acquisition, useCreated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
June 28, 2026Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 28, 2026
