Doublet Buttons

Of a total of more than 850 buttons recovered from Jamestown Rediscovery’s excavations, approximately two-thirds are classified as “doublet” buttons. Commonly found on 17th-century sites, doublet buttons were made of glass, copper alloy, silver, pewter, iron, thread, wood, or a combination of these materials. See the variety recovered from Jamestown in the chart below.

Doublets were worn by men from the 14th through the late 17th century. By the founding of Jamestown in 1607, doublets were typically short, tight-fitting jackets or vests worn by all ranks of society. While originally designed to be worn underneath other layers of clothing, doublets were frequently worn as outerwear by the early 17th century. Among the elite, doublets worn as outerwear were a highly visible opportunity to convey one’s status. This was accomplished through the quality of the fabric and weave, the presence of gold or silver lace, and the relative expense of the buttons. It was quite common for a doublet to have 20 or more bulbous buttons for securing the front of the jacket. While many of the buttons in the Jamestown collection are quite plain, there are several that likely belonged to elaborate garments.

Though we call this style of button “doublet,” here at Jamestown, they were used to secure a variety of garment types, including jerkins and breeches. A similar button in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection is found on a woman’s jacket! Because many of the colonists would have worn doublets or jerkins, it is likely that most buttons in Rediscovery’s collections are from these garments.

A startling number of doublet buttons in good condition were recovered from some of the fort’s earliest features including the First Well, Pit 1, and the Factory. Archaeologists believe that these early features were filled in after the Starving Time during the cleansing of the fort. At this time, many items that may have typically been recycled or salvaged were thrown into spoiled wells, cellars, and pits. Over 130 doublet buttons were found in the First Well alone — suggesting that this cleansing included a number of garments.

doublet buttons in the jamestown collection

Photo	Material	Description (Manufacture, shape, decoration)	Notes
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed, some have evidence of tinning -- size varies	By far the most common button type in the collection
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed with knop
	Copper Alloy	Cast, biconvex
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed, relief decorated -- Many are tinned	We have approximately ten of these in the collection, representing a few motifs.
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed, gadrooned	Only one in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed, gadrooned with flat rectangular shank	Only three in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Cast, flat head and flat rectangular shank with basketweave pattern	Four in the collection -- all from the First Well and likely part of the same garment.
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed with loopless shank	Only two in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed with extra vertical bar in shank before loop	Only two in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Mostly cast round head, with shank inserted into slight hollow portion at bottom of head	Only two in the collection!
No photo available at this time	Copper Alloy	Mostly cast domed head, with shank inserted into slight hollow portion at bottom of head	Only one in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Cast, domed, enamel painted	Only two in the collection and they're identical!
	Copper Alloy	Stamped, round
	Copper Alloy	Stamped, round with knop	Only three in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Stamped, round face is decorated with a series of concentric circles and five perforated lines which gives a floral appearance.
	Copper Alloy	Stamped, biconvex
	Copper Alloy	Stamped, biconvex with star motif	Only one in the collection!
	Copper Alloy	Stamped, floral shape	Only one in the collection!
	Silver	Stamped, biconvex with knop	Just four in the collection and only one is complete
	Iron	Round	Only one in the collection!
	Tin/Copper Alloy	Small, round tin head with copper alloy shank	Only 2 complete ones in the collection, but about 11 in total
No photo available at this time	Tinned copper alloy, pewter, or lead	Domed head	This variety comes in all three material types, but they were grouped together for the purposes of this website page as there are so few of them.
	Glass/Iron	Wound, black glass biconvex head with iron shank	Testing has shown that these were likely produced at a glass manufacturing center in Bavaria. It is the second most common button type in the collection.
	Glass/Iron	Wound, black glass round head with iron shank	Much smaller than the similar biconvex buttons above
	Glass/Iron	Wound, black glass biconvex head with iron shank. Decorated with pale green dots	Similar buttons found on 17th century sites in Maryland have an additional outer dot and painted petals expanding from the central dot out to the edge, between the outer dots.
	Glass/Copper Alloy	Wound, black glass round head with copper alloy shank and a small gilt circle on top	Only one in the collection!
	Glass/Copper Alloy/Iron	Cinquefoil lobed, enamel painted glass body with decorative copper alloy top and iron shank	Thirteen recovered -- all likely belonged to the same garment. Click here to learn more.
	Glass	Floral-shaped, octofoil domed glass body with decorative inset glass paste gem	Just two in the collection, but they are slightly different.
	Glass/Iron	Wound, white, domed	Parallel example found in Amsterdam dating to the mid-17th century.
	Glass/Copper Alloy	Wound, Robin's egg blue, round
	Wood/Thread/Silver	Silver threads wrapped around wooden core	Also have examples with plain threads. Click here to learn more.