Early button with the coat of arms of Arkhangelsk province

Bronze, gilding, stamping. The original buttons in good collectible condition. The subject of the land, not shelled. Diameter 21 mm Lug whole. The guarantee of authenticity.

"By the decree of Emperor Paul I of December 12, 1796 "On the new division of the state into provinces", the division into provinces and counties was restored. Then, in connection with the introduction of new states in local institutions, the law of February 15, 1797 established a system of "provincial state uniforms" with a uniform cut and color of caftans — dark green cloth, single-breasted, with a turn-down collar, without lapels. To distinguish the provinces, only the collar and cuffs now served, which, as it was specifically explained, had to be "those colors that are included in the provincial coats of arms" (meaning the color of the coat of arms). There were five such colors: red, white, blue, fawn and light green. The provincial coat of arms was depicted on the yellow or white buttons. "Samples of such uniforms" were approved, which were then sent out "for use by both employees in provincial states and those with their own estates."

In the following years (since 1801 ), the uniforms of individual provinces underwent particular changes (most of all, the colors of the collar and cuffs), while simultaneously replacing the old style of the uniform with a new one. These changes in the provincial uniforms of the early years of the 19th century were fixed and brought into the system by decree of August 3, 1809. In 1824, the color differences of the provincial uniforms (collars and cuffs) were changed in such a way as to make them similar for the provinces included in each of the governorates-general. Only the uniforms of the St. Petersburg and Moscow provinces received red collars and cuffs. The uniforms of some provinces had collars and cuffs of different colors. Colored edging on the collar, cuffs and sides of uniforms has become widespread. The buttons could be of white or yellow metal with the image of the provincial coat of arms. The difference between the uniforms of different provinces in terms of the color of the collars and cuffs was eliminated on January 1, 1831: from now on, the collars and cuffs had to be made of red cloth; the difference now consisted only in the buttons (all of them were yellow metal), on which the coat of arms and the name of the province were stamped.

On July 4, 1857, the law "On the coats of arms of provinces, regions, townships, cities and townships" was adopted, according to which the imperial crown was depicted on the provincial coats of arms above the shield, and oak leaves with St. Andrew's ribbon around the shield. At least five different types of buttons were used on provincial uniforms. The provincial coats of arms were repeatedly completely or partially changed, various additions were made to their images, which naturally reflected on the appearance of the provincial buttons. Button manufacturers also contributed, using their own versions of the approved images. As a result, the number of provincial buttons by type and variant may exceed 1,000 units (information from the website pugoviza.ru )