The Red Kaganate

Last Page Update: April 10, 2002 Contact Copyright Information Main Page Structure of the Red Kaganate Gatherings, Events,... Historic Steppes Tribes Legends of the Nomads Flags and other Identifiers Clothing and Apearance Food and related Matters Games and Military Arts Public Forum Resource Links Email: [email protected] Editor: Norman J. Finkelshteyn

Buttons Collection of materials Cuman grave at Jaszdozsa - Artifacts as they were layed out. Image courtesy of Justin Dragosani, also published at his site: http://www.kipchak.com From Andras Paloczi-Horvath, Pechenegs, Cumans, Iasians: Steppe People in Medieval Hungary. Budapest: Corvina/Kultura, 1989, 62. Following text is translated and adapted from http://www.alices-chest.narod.ru. Buttons were made from wood, leather, metal, bone, glass, mother of pearl. Wood and leather buttons were of a short cylindrical shape and were fastened with leather loops. They were chiefly worn on outer clothing. Tin, bronze, silver, and gold buttons showed substantially more variety -- egg-shaped, almond-shaped, pear-shaped, "half-sphere", concave... They differ in size from a pea to an egg and could be decorated in different ways, including engraving, chern, simple chasing... A garment may have from eleven to fifteen, or even more buttons. Fancy dress would use siver or gold buttons, elaborately enameled buttons, or buttons of precious stone. A special deocrative type of buttons were used to fasten mantels or separate colars. Collection of buttons - A substantial set of Russo-Turkic buttons from http://www.alices-chest.narod.ru. Detail photos follow. The measure shown in some of the photos is in milimeters. Various decorated buttons. Plain buttons. Circa IX - XI cent. Kaluzh region. Buttons with simple line decoration. Buttons with circular decoration. Kaluzh region. "Half-sphere" buttons. XII cent. Kaluzh region. Concave buttons. Buttons with traces of enamel. No earlier than XIII cent. Kaluzh region.     XVII cent. Russia. Silver, enamel, engraving.