French history seen through buttons

A jacket from Elsa Schiaparell’s 1937 summer collection / Courtesy of Musee des Arts Decoratifs

By Kwon Mee-yoo

“Portrait of a Woman in Fragonard’s Style” (c. 1760) / Courtesy of Musee des Arts Decoratifs

Art Nouveau button (c. 1900) / Courtesy of Musee des Arts Decoratifs

Buttons are tiny, but can bear a variety of things from war and revolution to industry and fashion. An exhibition at the National Museum of Korea (NMK) unravels the modern history of France from the 18th century to the early 20th century through these buttons.

Titled "Unbuttoning the French fashion from the 18th to the 20th century," the exhibit is co-organized by Les Arts Decoratifs, Paris.

"Visitors will be surprised to see various materials and manufacturing techniques used to make buttons. We organized the exhibit from a microscopic perspective, interpreting history through this trivial object," NMK curator Baek Seung-mi said.

Most of the artifacts on display come from the collection of French collector Loic Allio, who gathered over 3,000 buttons ranging from wood and plastic to bone and pearl.

Allio avidly collected the fashion accessory for decades, mesmerized by unlimited possibilities of the object integrating craftsmanship of embroiderers, ceramicists, jewelers and silversmiths. Allio said collecting buttons are like fishing and the bigger the button is the better and collectors usually pass on those which are smaller than three centimeters in diameter.

The exhibit begins with introducing materials used for buttons. The oldest button in the collection, excavated from the Ordos region of China dating back between the 6th century B.C. and A.D. 3rd century, is made of bronze. Some of the buttons are made from elephant skin, while others use mother-of-pearl.

"Until the 17th century, buttons were expensive, luxurious ornaments, but became more popular in the 18th century, commonly used by both aristocrats and ordinary people," curator Baek said.

France went through big historical events such as the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution and the World Wars and buttons kept French together throughout this history.

The French Revolution in portrayed in the three colored buttons representing the flag of France and some buttons were adorned with minerals, plants and feathers.

In the 19th century, bourgeois society influenced buttons as women's costumes became more glamorous. Buttons also became mass produced, differentiating from previous made-to-order buttons.

Fashion designers of the 20th century sublimated buttons into art. Elsa Schiaparell was one of the artists who understood the beauty of buttons and made buttons with bold colors and geometric patterns.

The exhibit runs until Aug. 15 at the NMK and then travels to the Daegu National Museum from Sept. 9 to Dec. 3. For more information, visit museum.go.kr or call 02-2077-9000.