An in-depth research and illustrated collector’s guide on the various techniques and history of enamel buttons.
Though enamel buttons have been around for centuries and are favourites of button collectors, there has not been a book completely dedicated to their study . . . until now! Author Karen L. Cohen brings her unique perspective as an enamellist, Studio Button Artist, and educator to Enamel Buttons: An Essential Resource for Collectors. Meticulous research combined with her insights about the properties of enamel and the techniques used in buttons make this a must-have book for every collector. Hundreds of photos provide examples of the various techniques and button types and are a valuable resource for study.
Cohen explains why things look like they do, such as why Motiwala Bros. “Liquid Enamel” buttons look like they flow, while also helping the collector distinguish between closely related techniques, such as Champlevé and Cloisonné or Monochrome and Grisaille. Her extensive research on the evolution of enamelling techniques provides the history chapter with fascinating facts intertwined with how they relate to enamel buttons. Cohen has documented many of the enamellist makers along with their back marks, making it easier for collectors to identify button finds. The appendices include related information such as how to identify enamel look-alikes such as CPE (cold plastic enamel) and restoration techniques.
If you already collect enamel buttons, this is an essential resource for understanding your collection in more depth. If you are curious about the topic, this book tells it all: history, material, techniques and embellishments, makers, and more. If you are a collector of other types of enamelware or are fascinated with enamelling or are someone who resells enamels such as antique dealers, this book is an excellent resource about the various aspects of enamel in general. Lastly, it’s a button book you will enjoy paging through again and again, admiring the hundreds of glorious enamel buttons!
Karen Cohen is an active enamellist, teacher, author of two previous books on enamelling, and an expert on enamelled buttons. Her new book comprehensively covers enamelled buttons from the mid-18th century to the present. It speaks to collectors, to enamellers and to people following trends in dress fashion.
The undoubted, most immediate appeal and importance centres on the several-hundred representative and significant, well-coloured illustrations. With these and detailed captions, it is the first direct reference source for collectors and connoisseurs, for whom the end papers include guide lists for assessing pieces. Enamellers will find how extensively and adroitly the various art techniques have been very stylishly produced on the small format of buttons. The modern progression is also detailed and illustrated with the work of several present day artist-enamellers who make singular display buttons with innovative designs.
This highly individualistic, excellently illustrated book is certainly a very commendable addition to the literature on enamelwork as well as for button collecting.--Erika Speel "Journal of the Guild of Enamellers Spring 2025" (2/24/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Enamel has an allure that perhaps is stronger than that of gold, at least for me. And although it has taken a dozen years for me to build up a modest collection of enamel buttons, I still need to study and understand more about how these beauties were made. So when Karen Cohen wrote her latest book, Enamel Buttons: An Essential Resource for Collectors, I bought a copy, anticipating a masterful guide to enamel buttons. I was not disappointed!
As one who has embraced the enameling technique since she was a youth, Karen has developed her skills over a lifetime and has shared in this book her knowledge of not only the history of enameling, but also the various enameling techniques, styles, and production of enameled buttons in various areas of the world. The easy-to-navigate format makes learning about enamel buttons a pleasure.
A thorough examination of enameling as it relates to buttons, this book features numbered photographs of many examples, which are cross-referenced in the text at various places, where appropriate. This feature allows the collector to gain a deeper understanding of concepts and to see examples that illustrate these concepts. Included throughout the book are "Enamel Tech Talk" sidebars which provide additional details that complement the discussions of the various enamel types and methods.
The six appendices add yet other valuable information about look-alikes, restoration, terminology differences, and Japanese enamel terminology. The last appendix, a checklist, enumerates every possible type of enamel button collectors might want to acquire and includes a blank for writing the catalog number for that button (for those who catalog their buttons by number).
For collectors who want to know about their enamel buttons, this book is indispensable. I will treasure this book as much as I do my enamel buttons!
--Carole Koontz, Editor, The Buckeye State Button Society Bulletin
Reprinted from The Buckeye State Button Society Bulletin, with permission
--Carole Koontz "The Buckeye State Button Society Bulletin" (12/16/2024 12:00:00 AM)
"Although the book has hundreds of button illustrations, it is much more than a coffee-table book with a lot of pretty pictures. The captions and the accompanying text provide solid educational information that the reader can apply to new buttons they may encounter in their future collecting. From our initial contact and subsequent discussions, I could tell that Ms. Cohen spent quite a while researching the subject thoroughly. She has been a teacher for all of her adult life and an enamelist for many years, having previously written books on enameling for enamelists. In this, her latest effort, she explains all aspects of enameling to people who specifically collect enamel buttons. I am confident that this book will become a valuable tool in the armory of the button collector. It ranks along The Big Book of Buttons, Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, and Buttons by Diana Epstein and Millicent Safro."
Martyn Frith, Managing Director, The Button Queen Ltd.
Karen L. Cohen has been an enamellist and educator for more than 40 years and is the author of The Art of Fine Enamelling. She also loves buttons and is both a collector and a Studio Button Artist. Her unique perspective of enamellist/collector shows through in every aspect of this book, as she explores the history of enamel and buttons, documents the work of antique and contemporary button artists, and uses detective skills to explain the many techniques you’ll find in enamel buttons and how to tell one from another. She resides in Milford, Pennsylvania, USA.
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