🔎 UNIDENTIFIED What type of animal is this? Recently found

[Squab]

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[fyrffytr1]

It looks like a donkey, mule or maybe even a horse to me. I can tell you that your button dates from 1847-1849 going by the backmark.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

It does look like a donkey

 

[CRUSADER]

It looks like a donkey, mule or maybe even a horse to me. I can tell you that your button dates from 1847-1849 going by the backmark.

I agree.
Seems very odd, it's not a Livery button or a Hunts button, & I have no idea what bracket it falls in.
Very interesting, a first for me.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Looks like a mule but the ears are a bit short for one.

 

[pepperj]

Between a mule and a horse, it's a nice keeper.
Looks like it could use a meal with its ribs showing like that.

 

[Red-Coat]

Good button in nice condition. fyrffytr1 has the backmark date correct.

I've seen a similar style Wadhams button with an elephant on it. Not livery, and a bit odd for a sporting button. My guess would be that these are donkey and elephant for Democrat or Republican symbolism, depending on one's loyalties.

 

[fyrffytr1]

Good button in nice condition. fyrffytr1 has the backmark date correct.

I've seen a similar style Wadhams button with an elephant on it. Not livery, and a bit odd for a sporting button. My guess would be that these are donkey and elephant for Democrat or Republican symbolism, depending on one's loyalties.

I haven't seen the elephant button but the political idea did occur to me. Were the donkey and elephant used as symbols in the late 1840s?

 

[CreakyDigger]

Welcome to TNet from upstate NY. Interesting discovery!

 

[Red-Coat]

I haven't seen the elephant button but the political idea did occur to me. Were the donkey and elephant used as symbols in the late 1840s?

Good question.

The Democrat donkey was first used during Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1828. His opponents dubbed him a “jackass” but he turned the tables on them by adopting it on his campaign materials, and it subsequently became a general emblem for the Democrat party.

The Republican party of course didn’t exist until 1854. It’s not clear exactly when they adopted the elephant as a party emblem but it was used by Abraham Lincoln during his 1860 election campaign. I can’t say if the Wadhams elephant button I saw had the specific backmark that narrows it down to manufacture between 1847-1849, or a later backmark.

 

[CreakyDigger]

Good question.

The Democrat donkey was first used during Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1828. His opponents dubbed him a “jackass” but he turned the tables on them by adopting it on his campaign materials, and it subsequently became a general emblem for the Democrat party.

The Republican party of course didn’t exist until 1854. It’s not clear exactly when they adopted the elephant as a party emblem but it was used by Abraham Lincoln during his 1860 election campaign. I can’t say if the Wadhams elephant button I saw had the specific backmark that narrows it down to manufacture between 1847-1849, or a later backmark.

The story goes that "seeing the elephant" was an expression used by Union soldiers as an euphemism for being in combat. Both the donkey & elephant had been used previously but they became popularized and engrained in the political culture by the cartoonist Thomas Nast in the 1870's.

I don't think it was used in Lincoln's first campaign, but it was used in his second (1864) campaign.

 

[randywa]

I don't know if this will help any, but here is a link to one like yours. Sporting button makes sense but I don't know if I would have called it a deer though.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/civil-war-brass-horse-deer-picture-101328286

 

[Squab]

I don't know if this will help any, but here is a link to one like yours. Sporting button makes sense but I don't know if I would have called it a deer though.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/civil-war-brass-horse-deer-picture-101328286

Thanks for the link

 

[GoldieLocks]

Asian art 400-1890 AD tends to portray this animal's perportions.

 

[Bramblefind]

The Big Book of Buttons calls this a Guanaco. Here is what they have about it----

 

[Red-Coat]

The Big Book of Buttons calls this a Guanaco. Here is what they have about it----

Thanks. That makes more sense... and the elephant button illustrated looks like the one I remembered seeing.

 

[CRUSADER]

The Big Book of Buttons calls this a Guanaco. Here is what they have about it----

Interesting, falls into the unusual Hunts/Sports Button Cat. ! Never knew that, learn everyday.....

 

[Allen Jackson]

View attachment 1993908

my guess would have to be a horse

 

[fyrffytr1]

The Big Book of Buttons calls this a Guanaco. Here is what they have about it----

If I ever win the lottery I am going to get a copy of this book!

 

[Squab]

The Big Book of Buttons calls this a Guanaco. Here is what they have about it----

Thanks for the info