Interesting old button from an English farm field

[cudamark]

At least, I think it's a button! I know, I should have taken more photos and something for size. Maybe when I actually get it next fall I'll post more info. Anyone recognize what is depicted here? Looks to me like a ship's mast with furled sail, a crows nest with maybe arrows? sticking out of it?

 

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[oldmxrat]

I see what you see, cool piece whatever it is!

 

[CRUSADER]

It's a Livery Button, needs some unpicking but look here (circa 1830s);

Livery Buttons Identified

sites.google.com

 

[Kona Koma]

At least, I think it's a button! I know, I should have taken more photos and something for size. Maybe when I actually get it next fall I'll post more info. Anyone recognize what is depicted here? Looks to me like a ship's mast with unfurled sail, a crows nest with maybe arrows? sticking out of it?

Nice find.

 

[billb]

Very nice
Congratulations

 

[Gare]

Neat Button Thanks for posting

 

[scruggs]

Interesting button! YOU MADE A GOOD FIND!

 

[Red-Coat]

Very nice and unusual livery button. It’s not depicted in that very handy “Livery Buttons Identified” site that Crusader linked you to, which contains only a tiny fraction of the possibilities (although the collection is growing all the time), but I’m sure it’s for the Merry family of Herringfleet Hall. In fact I could only find one image where an early version of the crest is depicted on the rim of a porcelain plate from c1725, which is in the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec. The plate also has the full armorial of the Foster Family:

Fairburn (incorrectly stating that Herringfleet Hall is in Norfolk, whereas it’s in Suffolk but close to the Norfolk border… and that error is perpetuated by the Musée National) details the crest as follows:

"The mast of a ship rompu and erect, thereto a yard with the sail furled in bend sinister, above it a round top, three arrows issuing therefrom on each side in saltier, points upward, all ppr."

“rompu” is the heraldic term for “broken” or “cut off”.
“in bend sinister” means tilted from upper right to lower left (although that early crest I showed has the yardarm tilting in the other direction).
“in saltier” means “arranged as a diagonal cross: X
“ppr” is the abbreviation for “proper”, meaning the heraldic elements are depicted in their naturally-expected colours.

Here’s the “Historic England” listing for Herringfleet Hall:
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1031949

If you’re interested, it might be worth doing a bit of genealogical research to see if you find a family connection to the area where it was found. Unless it was actually near the Suffolk/Norfolk border of course.

The presumption that it’s “circa 1830s” isn’t necessarily correct. The “golden age” of livery buttons was between about 1830-1850 but such buttons were commonly made from the late 1790s through to the end of the 19th Century. Is there a backmark to help in dating?

 

[cudamark]

It's still in England and in my pouch of goods being evaluated, so, I can't inspect it until It clears that procedure and I pick them up in the Fall. I don't know why I didn't take a photo of the back side at the time. total brain fart on my part I guess! I found over 100 buttons and didn't photograph any others. Most were broken flat buttons that got tossed in the scrap bin. There are a few others that I'll post when I get them and am able to clean them a bit for better photos. Thanks for all the info on the Merry family of Herringfleet Hall, and the Foster family. Sure looks like the same symbol to me.

 

[cudamark]

It wasn't found nearby, but, not a great distance away. It was found south of there in the Colchester area.

 

[CRUSADER]

"The mast of a ship rompu and erect, thereto a yard with the sail furled in bend sinister, above it a round top, three arrows issuing therefrom on each side in saltier, points upward, all ppr."

I could see all elements & the arrows (or spear looking objects) poking out of what I thought a Crow Nest, was so odd, I didn't even decide to describe it.

 

[Red-Coat]

It wasn't found nearby, but, not a great distance away. It was found south of there in the Colchester area.

Thanks for the info. The plate I showed (said to be c.1725) has the crest for the Merry family of Herringfleet Hall in Suffolk on the rim, but the central part also has the full armorial for the Foster family of Suffolk and Essex. Colchester is in Essex.

I would guess there was intermarriage between the two families in the early 18th Century and a continuing family relationship thereafter.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Nice one !

 

[Digger RJ]

At least, I think it's a button! I know, I should have taken more photos and something for size. Maybe when I actually get it next fall I'll post more info. Anyone recognize what is depicted here? Looks to me like a ship's mast with furled sail, a crows nest with maybe arrows? sticking out of it?

Nice!!! Congrats!!!