A button that grew up: the Zeeuwse knoop and the costume it came from

By Ines Keane

Start with the shape, because everyone does. One large ball in the middle, a ring of smaller balls round it, and a lacework of fine metal thread over the whole. It is a button. For a long time it was worn by men.

What the heritage site says

Zeeuwse Ankers, a heritage storytelling site about Zeeland’s landscapes, monuments, objects and people, describes the Zeeuwse knoop as originally a men’s forged gold or silver button. Later, it says, women used it as a hatpin or a brooch. The page then lists where it has turned up since its revival: as jewellery, a baking tin, a bicycle bell and a bar of soap.

That is all the page says about the button itself. It gives no date for its origin. The rest of the article is about the clothes.

Sixteen outfits

Zeeland, the page says, had sixteen regional outfits in the early nineteenth century. Schouwen-Duiveland had veiled bonnets, the Land van Axel high-cut clothing and the Land van Cadzand white bonnets trimmed with lace. Variations followed village, occupation, religious denomination and marital status. Early outfits were colourful, and the page says colour drained away over the nineteenth century while embroidery and decoration increased. Walcheren bonnets were especially decorated.

Jewellery did work. The page lists earrings, pins, buttons and buckles, and men’s silver trouser bands that fastened the trousers. Women hung gold bonnet rings from their earrings and wore necklaces of blood coral, agate or black beads. The best pieces were kept for Sunday church. Everyday work clothes were cheap and strong and carried little jewellery.

A name, not a guarantee

We found no page that says “Zeeuwse knoop” is a protected name, or that sets out what a genuine piece must contain. Our reading: if a label says silver, ask the seller to say what is stamped on it and where it was made. We name no sellers.

Dates in order

Early 19th century: sixteen regional outfits, according to Zeeuwse Ankers.

Where the clothes are kept

Zeeuwse Ankers says folklorists began collecting discarded garments and jewellery in the second half of the nineteenth century, and names several Zeeland museums with collections, among them the Zeeuws Museum in Middelburg and the museum in Veere. A museum is a better place than a shop to see how the pieces were worn. Opening arrangements are for the museums to say.

Quick answers

What is a Zeeuwse knoop? According to Zeeuwse Ankers, a heritage site, originally a men’s forged gold or silver button; later women wore it as a hatpin or brooch.

Roam first. Shop later.

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