Two questions for you:
a) When was the last time you examined the buttons on your clothes?
b) Are buttons a constant source of fascination to you?
If you have a life you’ll probably answer as follows:
a) Never OR The last time one fell off.
b) NO (caps emphatically locked).
As a consequence, if I were to propose a trip to a local Button Museum I doubt that you’d be able to summon up much enthusiasm.
But if were to inform you, as the English version of said museum’s information sheet does, that the humble, neglected button is actually “an object of communication and seduction” which symbolises “the imaginary and physical boundary between the external and internal world” you may just un-stifle that yawn and agree to join me in Santarchangelo – a small town in Emilia Romagna located between my home in Cesena and Rimini.
Giorgio Gavalotti
The small yet fascinating museum (admission free!) is the brainchild of Giorgio Gallavotti, a committed and sprightly 74-year-old collector and one time button seller . On the day I visited, Signor Gallavotti had the energy and enthusiasm to hold the attention of a ragged party of teenage school kids – no mean feat I can assure you!
The museum is divided into three sections – history, materials and curios. Wisely, the layout is such that the curios are the first exhibits you see on entering – these include papal buttons and miniature works of functional art including one designed by Pablo Picasso.
Other panels that caught my eye were a set of Disney button depicting Snow White and the seven dwarfs and one showing how the design of buttons on Levis jeans has changed over the years. The latter made me think of Robert Opie’s collection of packaging and advertising which also the result of one-man’s enthusiasm.
Both collections are motivated by an obsessive interest in preserving objects and designs that have gone out of fashion and each reflect a tangible and accessible aspect of social history.
If you find yourself in the Santarchangelo area, do call in on the museum and tell them I sent you!
