Early 20th Century Blonde Multi Rhinestone Comb

Ref: AN-0808-008

This beautiful comb is made from a transparent form of celluloid which is the colour of pale cider. It is made in an asymmetrical floral design representing flowers and foliage which are encrusted with blue and green rhinestones.

There is one green rhinestone missing but this is difficult to detect without very close inspection. The asymmetric design and naturalistic motifs show Art Nouveau influence.

Size: 5½ x 3¼ ins (approx 14 x 8 cms)

£35.00

Elaborate Mid Victorian Vulcanite Tiara Comb

Ref: AN-1008-023

This wonderful tiara style hair accessory in carved vulcanite comb dates from the mid Victorian period of 1860-1880. This is a particularly elaborate example and has several large roundels and balls raised up on spikes. One minor issue is a split in one of the jet balls atop the tiara which needs to be replaced.

Here we have a classic hinged mid Victorian hair comb. The main feature in this type is that the heading is adjustable, being attached to the prongs by a flexible hinge of gilt metal, which allows it to rotate through 90 or more degrees. This enables the ornament to be adjusted to various positions within the coiffure. Such combs may be worn either in the back of the hairdressing or above the forehead as a tiara. The final picture shows a sitter with a large tiara comb decorated with balls worn in this manner.

Size: 5½ x 3½  ins (approx 14 x 9 cms)

£125.00

Pre Ban Genuine Tortoiseshell Early 19th Century Comb

Ref: AN-1008-024

This handsome genuine tortoiseshell comb is from the early 19th  century. At this time the fashionable coiffure and the accessories used to adorn it had become extremely high and complex. Great stiffened loops of hair, often false, were placed upon the crown to give height to the dressing.

Tortoiseshell was a very popular material for these combs, which was often carved with great beauty and skill. This one is made from one large solid piece of natural shell which is highly polished and beautifully mottled and translucent in parts. It has a simple fluted shell like design in which the natural colouring of the material has been very effectively used by the artist.

This fantastical hairdressing is shown in the accompanying illustration from a fashion plate of the 1830s. Acting partly as a support for all the loops of false hair and other ornaments, many coiffures featured a high Spanish-style backcomb placed at the rear of the dressing. The final picture shows a contemporary pastel portrait of a fashionable sitter with a similar large comb.

Size: 7½ x 6½  ins (approx 19 x 16.5 cms)

£125.00

Victorian Hinged Gilt Metal Balls Comb

Ref: AN-1008-025

This wonderful hinged brass tiara type comb dates from the mid Victorian period of 1860-1880. These combs decorated with balls were known as peigne Josephine from a style made popular by the wife of the Emperor Napoleon I. They were produced in very large numbers in Victorian times, and appear in a wide variety of materials and styles. In many examples the ball in the centre is larger, with the others graduated in size, but here they are all equal.

One salient feature is that the heading is adjustable, being attached to the prongs by a flexible hinge of gilt metal, which allows it to rotate through 90 or more degrees. This enables the ornament to be adjusted to various positions within the coiffure. Such combs are of the type which may be worn either in the back of the hairdressing or above the forehead as a tiara as shown on the mannequin.

Size: 4¾ x 3¼  ins (approx 12 x 8.5 cms)

£95.00

Late Victorian Back Comb with Gilt Metal Heading

Ref: AN-1008-026

This is a nice quality back comb dating from circa 1890 to 1910. This type of hair accessory was specifically designed to be worn at the back of the hairdressing above or below the chignon. It is usually identified by a deep curve made to fit the skull. These combs are usually wider than they are high and have an elaborate heading or top decorated in some way. This handsome example is of celluloid faux tortoiseshell with a gilt metal heading design decorated in amber rhinestones. This comb is typical of a class of jewellery favoured by women with more conservative tastes.

Size: 2½ x 4½  ins (approx 6.5 x 11.5 cms)

£40.00

Victorian Carved Pre Ban Ivory Hair Comb

Ref: AN-1104-011

Here is a very beautiful pre-ban ivory comb. It is not perfect as there is some minor damage to the top right hand corner, best seen in picture 3. The design features what appear to be forget me knots and tulips which meander up from the base of the tines, finishing with full blown roses at the top. Panels of openwork are placed in between the florals.

Ivory combs like this were carved in China, often using designs dictated by Western taste. The three most important centres for ivory carving were Beijing, Shanghai and Canton which became the centre for the trade in the later 19th century. Thence they were imported as luxury trade goods into Europe and the USA. The design of the comb is typical of the late 19th or early 20th century.

Size: 6 ins h x 3¼ ins w. (approx 15 cms x 8 cms) 

£140.00

Late Victorian Toledo Work Asymmetric Comb

Ref: AN-1104-012

This unusual comb dates from the late Victorian period when asymmetric shapes and smaller sizes were in vogue. It has prongs of blonde horn (not celluloid) and the heading is fitted with a metal plate decorated by a technique called Toledo or niello work. Here the niello attractively emphasizes a complex interlaced design with an enclosing border, giving the comb a rather “Renaissance” appearance.

This means that it incorporates heavily formalised scrollwork, and contrasting areas of the design are shiny and matte. The niello, a black metallic substance, was applied to the engraved metal surface and fused into it by means of heat, to form the design, somewhat similar to the technique used for enamel

Size: 4 ins h x 2¼ ins w. (approx 10 cms x 5.5 cms) 

£40.00

Late Victorian Gilded Mantilla Style Hair Comb

Ref: AN-1104-013

The type of comb, which we call the mantilla style, has a high heading and resembles the ornaments worn by Spanish ladies to drape their lace veils in traditional dress. The style became popular in the 1870s due to the debut of Bizet’s opera Carmen.

This is amply demonstrated by the final picture which shows an elegant young lady dressed in the fashion of the 1870s. In her elaborate hairdressing she wears a very high pierced mantilla comb which was probably made from horn or celluloid.

Size: 8¼ ins h x 6½ ins w (approx 21 cms x 16.5 cms) 

£60.00

Tortoiseshell and Silver Skonvirke Hair Comb

Ref: AN-1110-011

This handsome comb of natural tortoiseshell with silver embellishment was made in the so called Skonvirke fashion.  Georg Jensen and his fellow Danes (as well as other Scandinavians) changed forever the perception that silver was the poor relative of gold. They began their mission during a burst of creative activity that produced the so-called Skonvirke (artistic endeavours) style in Denmark. It paralleled the turn-of-the-century Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements of England and France and gave a radical new look to Danish design.

Size: 4¾ x 5¼ ins (approx 11.4 x 14 cms) 

£130.00

Late Victorian Pre Ban Tortoiseshell Tall Comb

Ref: AN-1110-012

This handsome genuine tortoiseshell comb is from the late Victorian period and probably dates from the 1890s or 1900s when the hair was drawn high onto the head in a topknot or up-do. This high chignon was often pierced by small combs, or single pronged ornaments with fancy headings of various kinds. Arrows, swords and daggers were very popular, as were leaf shapes like this. The final picture is from a contemporary photograph of the mid 1890s showing a sitter with a leaf shaped comb worn in this manner.

Size: 9 x 3½ ins (approx 23 x 9 cms) 

£130.00