Men throughout Europe wore silver buttons with their traditional costume in the 19th century. Silver filigree buttons had been synonymous with rural dress since at least the 16th century. Most European cultures disapproved of male jewellery, but buttons allowed men to show off their wealth and status.

Silver filigree buttons of this kind, called ‘braamknopen’ (blackberry buttons) in Dutch, are now regarded as typical of Zeeland. In the 18th and early 19th century they were worn throughout the Netherlands, and along the North Sea coast in Germany as well. These were acquired in Emden, in north Germany, just across the river Ems from Groningen in the north of the Netherlands, but their design and the circular ring joining them are typical of Dutch buttons.

Dutch men wore dozens of silver buttons on their costume. Individual buttons were worn in sets on jackets and shirts. Pairs of buttons like these, joined together by a silver ring, were worn at the neck of the shirt. The name ‘keelknopen’ means collar buttons in Dutch. These were bought for five shillings (for three pairs) at the International Exhibition, London, 1872.