Doublet Button

Of a total of more than 850 buttons recovered from Jamestown Rediscovery’s excavations, approximately two-thirds are classified as “doublet” buttons. Commonly found on 17th-century sites, doublet buttons were made of glass, copper alloy, silver, pewter, iron, thread, wood, or a combination of these materials. See the variety recovered from Jamestown in the chart below.

Doublets were worn by men from the 14th through the late 17th century. By the founding of Jamestown in 1607, doublets were typically short, tight-fitting jackets or vests worn by all ranks of society. While originally designed to be worn underneath other layers of clothing, doublets were frequently worn as outerwear by the early 17th century. Among the elite, doublets worn as outerwear were a highly visible opportunity to convey one’s status. This was accomplished through the quality of the fabric and weave, the presence of gold or silver lace, and the relative expense of the buttons. It was quite common for a doublet to have 20 or more bulbous buttons for securing the front of the jacket. While many of the buttons in the Jamestown collection are quite plain, there are several that likely belonged to elaborate garments.

Though we call this style of button “doublet,” here at Jamestown, they were used to secure a variety of garment types, including jerkins and breeches. A similar button in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection is found on a woman’s jacket! Because many of the colonists would have worn doublets or jerkins, it is likely that most buttons in Rediscovery’s collections are from these garments. A startling number of doublet buttons in good condition were recovered from some of the fort’s earliest features including the First Well, Pit 1, and the Factory. Archaeologists believe that these early features were filled in after the Starving Time during the cleansing of the fort. At this time, many items that may have typically been recycled or salvaged were thrown into spoiled wells, cellars, and pits. Over 130 doublet buttons were found in the First Well alone — suggesting that this cleansing included a number of garments.