Anna McDowell BEM - Dorset Button maker and artist

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Dorset Buttons at Henry's Buttons is based near Shaftesbury, Dorset, with the aim of helping to keep the heritage craft of the Dorset Buttons industry alive. My first action was to find out if anyone was interested in Dorset Buttons so with the help of a friend, Charlotte McMillan, we organised two workshops in 2009. Both were oversubscribed and the rest is history.

Commissions, awards and events

Won the The Dorset Shield for traditional Dorset Crafts

Dorset Button silver medallion adult workshop at Larmer Tree Festival

Dorset Button in the Dorset flag colours

Commission for the film Far From the Madding Crowd staring Carey Mulligan

Hampton Court Georgian kitchen

Film series Black Sails

Christmas tree decorations

Textile designer's Singleton buttons

Private commission for a statement coursage

Dorset Buttons a heritage craft

My interest in the Dorset Button industry was developed during my time as Chairman of two museums in Shaftesbury, Dorset - Shaftesbury Abbey Museum & Garden and Gold Hill Museum. Social history has always been an interest of mine and Dorset Buttons stemmed from this interest. Having read the available history on these small simple buttons, and seen them in museum collections, I realised how important they were in shaping the livelihoods of ordinary people living in East Dorset. This interest grew into a passion and I not only learnt how to make Dorset Buttons, but also researched their history and the impact of national events on this cottage industry. ​

Mastering new skills 

I learnt  the techniques of how to make the basic Dorset Cartwheel Button from a kit, and developed my skills with the help of a master Dorset Buttoner, Joan Nicholls. From this basic button, I have since managed the skills of making all four types of Dorset buttons:

1. High Tops and Dorset Knobs: the first Dorset Buttons and made with sheep’s horn, fabric and thread
2. Birdseyes and Mites: using just fabric and thread.
3. Singletons: made with wire rings, fabric and thread.

1. Dorset Cartwheels and Blandford Crosswheels: using wire rings and thread.​

Spreading the word

The future

My aim is to keep this heritage craft alive into today’s environment. My Dorset Buttons are worked in the traditional way using contemporary materials and designs. I run workshops, give talks and presentations and participate in festivals and shows. I sell my buttons through the Cygnet Gallery, Shaftesbury. I supply rings, kits and instructions for making Dorset Buttons through my online shops and Henry’s Buttons Etsy Shop.

Henry’s Buttons was supported by Sowing SEEDS, a Community Partnership covering the area of North and East Dorset, the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire.

My buttons have a variety of uses notably commissions for film work, including the recent “Far From the Madding Crowd” starring Carey Mulligan who wore them on many of her outfits. To provide authenticity to period costumes I work with Living History Groups, including Hampton Court Palace, where I made buttons of the re-enactors from the Georgian chocolate kitchen. I have also designed buttons for fashion designers and take individual commissions.
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One of my main passions is researching the Dorset Button industry and its demise together with compiling a record of collections held in museums across the country together with researching in to the history of buttony.

Anna McDowell BEM