Buttons bought for $53 sell for over $86,000 at auction

By Adam Dutton

A bargain hunter who paid $53 for two antique buttons was stunned to discover they were extremely rare and sold them for $86,611.

Gary Quittenton-Shaw, 58, snapped up the buttons which were included in a job lot of items he bought at his local auction house.

Each metal stud is 4cm wide and features an engraving of a woman emerging from the sea.

Eagle-eyed Gary went online to research the buttons after he brought them from Bamford Auctioneers in Spondon, Derbys.

He found out the fasteners were made by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti for Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930s.

The two buttons are just two of five still in existence with the remaining three displayed in museums.

Gary, a managing director of a car seat company, sent photos of the buttons to the Alberto Giacometti Committee in June.

Two months later, Gary received a letter informing him they were genuine so he decided to cash in.

On Tuesday, Dec. 12, the buttons were sold for $86,611 when they went under the hammer at Bonhams auctioneers in Knightsbridge, London.

Gary, from Rowsley, Derbys., said “I bought them but had no idea how significant they were.

“The whole world could see what they were but no one knew what they really were.

"I think it's because they were so rare. Everyone knows Giacometti for his pointed statues, but very little is known about his early career.

"He was a struggling surrealist artist and started making these buttons for fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.

"In the lot I bought, there was a cross of Jesus Christ which I got $53 for selling afterwards, so the buttons cost me $5 each really.

“There were two buttons in there, so just $10 - that isn't a bad deal.

"I've got a feeling some fashionable Derbyshire lady had a suit by Elsa Schiaparelli, lost a button and then threw them in a drawer and then they resurfaced.

"From what I paid for them I think it's a good bargain.

“I asked ChatGPT what are the chances of finding the two buttons at auction and it was 3.5 million to one - so I might just enter the lottery now.

"It's just luck that I bought them and discovered what they really were.

“They've never come up for auction before.

"They started off with the bidding at $5,000. I thought I'd get my cost back and a nice drink.

“Then it jumped up to $20,000, before selling at $61,000. It was ridiculous.”

Giacometti was best known for elongated and fragile sculptures throughout the 20th century.

Schiaparelli and Giacometti began collaborating in the 1930s, producing buttons for suits.