 Confederate Adjutant General button |
The Civil War Relicman,
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Winchester, Virginia
USA (changed hands 70 times in the Civil War!)
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This page updated May 10, 2008 |
Catalog of button
backmarks
Wildt
William Wildt was listed as a jeweler in Richmond Va from 1852 until well after the Civil War. One of his sons, Julia Wildt, moved to Columbia SC and partnered with a German named "Klein". Not enough is known about these producers, the shop in Columbia was burned during the war. It is not entirely clear whether buttons were produced at both locations or if the button making was subcontracted with another producer. For purposes of cataloging the backmarks, any backmarks bearing the Wildt name are shown on this page.
Most information on this page is from Tice's book, Dating Buttons..., the pictures are generally from buttons that I have handled.
Wildt01) (22 to 23mm)
Backmark: "W. WILDT & SON / RICHMOND VA." rmdc Backmark is usually
illegible, back crimping irregular.
Tice page 185, item count 1, [C2-15]
Examples with this backmark:
Back pictured on left is from Albert NC8, Tice NC210B1 North Carolina state seal "local"
button (B4815)
Back pictured on left is from VA21 Virginia state seal "local" button (B5085)
Two examples shown to illustrate quality range of this backmark. The mark will often appear to be double stamped, which is from the die "bouncing". Many are just a blur of double or triple stamping and may have actually been re-stamped, others are crisp. It is a rarity to get a clearly readable example of this backmark. Additionally, there sometimes will be extra burrs, bumps etc, which are often misinterpreted as additional punctuation, actually this is debris in the die. The example on the left has one of these burrs in the space before the Wildt name.
Wildt02 (22mm)
"RICHMOND VA / * W WILDT & SON * " rmdc, the "D's are
backwards (diemaker error), button is copper, crude stamping
Tice page 185, item count 2, [C2-16] with modification.
Examples with this backmark:
Back pictured is from VA20 Virginia state seal officer button,
"local" (B4459)
(Wildt03) (22 to 23mm)
Backmark: "W. WILDT & SON / * RICHMOND VA. * " rmdc. Backmark is usually
illegible, back crimping irregular
Tice page 185, item count 3, [C2-17]
Examples with this backmark:
B5137
North Carolina state seal southern manufactured "local" button (22mm)
Ref: Albert NC8 not listed, Tice NC210D1
Note example show is from an excavated button and is difficult to read, however this back differs significantly from Wildt01. This one has stars between the top and the bottom (Wildt01 has no stars) and the channel is relatively wider on Wildt01, narrow on Wildt03. Eventually I will get a clearer example of this back and when I do I will publish it!
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[Reference to Ridgeway archive catalog of buttons]
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