The oldest known standing button has been found in England, dating to the Roman age, but it never seems to have been used for buttoning. The use of the button to fasten clothing dates to the later Middle Ages. All early buttons are of the standing type: a sphere or a half-sphere, more or less flattened, with a shank underneath. Most of them were of metal. The size was tiny: barely one centimetre in diameter. As the medieval towns began to prosper, the richer townspeople began to sport long rows of close-set, tiny buttons on their clothing.

dimensions: 12 mm in diameter

provenance: Denmark date: 13^th to 16^th century