Enamel Buttons: An Essential Resource for Collectors

Though enamel buttons have been around for centuries and are favorites of button collectors, there has not been a book completely dedicated to their study . . . until now! Author Karen L. Cohen brings her unique perspective as an enamelist, Studio Button Artist, and educator to Enamel Buttons: An Essential Resource for Collectors. Meticulous research combined with her insights about the properties of enamel and the techniques used in buttons make this a must-have book for every collector. Hundreds of photos provide examples of the various techniques and button types and are a valuable resource for study.

Cohen explains why things look like they do, such as why Motiwala Bros. “Liquid Enamel” buttons look like they flow, while also helping the collector distinguish between closely related techniques, such as Champlevé and Cloisonné or Monochrome and Grisaille. Her extensive research on the evolution of enameling techniques provides the history chapter with fascinating facts intertwined with how they relate to enamel buttons. Cohen has documented many of the enamelist makers along with their back marks, making it easier for collectors to identify button finds. The appendices include related information such as how to identify enamel look-alikes such as CPE (cold plastic enamel) and restoration techniques.

If you already collect enamel buttons, this is an essential resource for understanding your collection in more depth. If you are curious about the topic, this book tells it all: history, material, techniques and embellishments, makers, and more. If you are a collector of other types of enamelware or are fascinated with enameling or are someone who resells enamels such as antique dealers, this book is an excellent resource about the various aspects of enamel in general. Lastly, it’s a button book you will enjoy paging through again and again, admiring the hundreds of glorious enamel buttons!

Karen L. Cohen was a high school math teacher before getting her Masters of Science degree in Computer Science. Most of her computer career was at AT&T Bell Labs, where she was in the forefront of data communication network development and was awarded a patent on one of her inventions in 1985. It is at Bell Labs that she learned technical writing.

In the mid-1970s Cohen started working in metals and enameling because she had loved them as a teen at summer camp. In 2002 she published her first book on enameling. In the same year, she started the enameling program at a summer art camp for kids where she taught for 15 years, and eventually coordinated their three jewelry studios—enameling, metals, and beading. In 2019 she published her completely rewritten second book on enameling, The Art of Fine Enameling, Second Edition, which was double the size of the first edition.

Today Cohen is retired from computing, but still teaches enameling and beading in various venues to both adults and children. She is a Studio Button Artist, but also continues to create dolls, wall pieces, jewelry, and more. In writing this book, Cohen extensively researched buttons, Japanese enameling, and old enameling techniques and is amazed at what she was able to uncover about the connection to buttons currently available for collectors.