These silver filigree buttons are constructed in the form of a daisy-shaped rosette with twelve or ten petals. Each petal is made using open-robed construction, consisting of a soldered outer wire frame filled with repetitive scrolled filigree motifs. The center of the rosette features a spherical boss, soldered in place.
The reverse shows a soldered loop shank attached to a square base plate, providing functional support for attachment. The frame-and-fill technique is typical of traditional filigree work, with no backing plate, allowing the openwork design to remain visible from both sides.
A display card by Mary H. Gale of Piedmont, in honor of the Danish princess Margaret (1895-1992: Card and buttons courtesy of Joan Andersen-Wells). The label notes:
The three Danish silver filigree buttons were designed in the form of the Marguerite flower. This was in honor of a member of the Danish Royal family, Princess Margrethe, the daughter of Prince Valdemar. The two pictures show the Danish Princess Margrethe as a young girl and a grown woman.
labeled on the back “Mary H. Gale” of Piedmont, Ca.
Learn about filigree in ‘A fairy dome of splendid architecthre’ A typology of the double-rosette construction in filigree beads by Jane Perry.