Friday, October 2, 2009

Mother and Daughter Dragons with Cut Steel Bodies

Dragon/Cockatrice
Fabulous Creature
Mother and Daughter Buttons
NBS Small, NBS Large
c1880s


Dragon/Cockatrice
Mother and Daughter Buttons
Japanned Back


Buttons of the same design in two sizes, one larger and one smaller, are known in the "button world" as Mother and Daughter buttons. Often, some aspects of the "daughter" button are less distinct, as in the border of the smaller button, but the brass escutcheon dragon/cockatrice figures, and the dragon's cut steel bodies, are nearly identical, right down to the rooster comb, the snake-like neck, the open beak, and the detailed feathers.

The button depicts a version of the evil cockatrice, half serpent and half rooster, evolved in the middle ages from the concept of the basilisk. For more information on the cockatrice, and to compare the button's designs, see my earlier post, Fabulous Creature: Screen Back Dragon/ Cockatrice. The smaller of the two buttons is also pictured in my post, Dueling Dragons with Cut Steels.

Image and Text © 2009 Anne AKA Once Upon A Button

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