Various Vintage/Antique Fire Department Buttons - Several Manufacturers

This lot of Fire Department buttons is a collection of 3 different manufacturers with varying histories.

The 10 large buttons are by William Scully Ltd. of Montreal. Their history extends all the way back to the Boer war of the late-19th century. They are still in business today, admirably run by the same family. They measure 29mm in width.

The 2 slightly smaller buttons were manufactured by J.R. Gaunt & Son Ltd. of Montreal. Founded in Birmingham, England in 1884, they manufactured buttons for various military and official agencies in England and its colonies (including Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Their Canadian facilities opened in the early 20th century and was in production until the mid-20th century. They measure 25mm in width.

The next smaller pieces were manufactured from 1901-1950 and were based out of Montreal. They measure 24mm in width.

The next smaller 4 buttons are a bit of a quandary... They are J.R. Gaunt buttons, labelled as Montreal, but manufactured in England. This is the only set that we can adequately date, as these buttons were only manufactured during the first World War. They measure 15mm in width.

The last, single button is unlabeled and measures 14mm in width.

All the buttons are brass with a nickel/pewter top. They are all in very good structural condition with only patina and some light marring on their surface, as seen in the photos. Although only a few can be accurately dated, they are all beautiful pieces of history and may contain some very rare examples of military button manufacturers to have forayed into civil service pieces

As always, should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to message me. I'm always happy to respond to queries.

Thanks for visiting C&K!