Faux Tortoise Figural Peacock Hair Comb

Ref: DE-1008-005

This is a pretty faux tortoiseshell effect hair comb which is done in the design of a figural peacock.

Spanish style hair combs like this were worn as shown on the mannequin, and were placed so that the fancy openwork heading was visible from all angles.

Size: 6¼ x 3 ins (approx 16 x 7.5 cms)

£15.00

Bright Red Classic Fan Shape Comb

Ref: DE-0903-018

In general, Art Deco designs incorporated Cubist and Futurist art which influenced fashion, architecture and interior design. Very jazzy and geometric, the designs celebrated all the excitement of the machine age and were definitely more angular, fantastical and bold than the previous flowing designs of the Art Nouveau period.

This striking cherry red fan shape is a powerful example of a comb in a severe simplified shape which relies upon its form and colour to create a powerful and dramatic effect.

The final picture is taken from a contemporary coloured postcard where the sitter wears a comb of similar shape.

Size: 6¼  x 6 ins (16 x 15 cms)

£40.00

Matched Pair Mottled Amber Overlay Combs

Ref: DE-0904-001

For some women it was clearly not enough to wear one large and dramatic hair comb. So we find several examples of a matched pair worn together, as in the final illustration which is taken from a contemporary postcard.

This very beautiful pair of hair combs is made of a transparent amber coloured material which simulates either natural amber or the so-called blonde variety of genuine tortoiseshell.

The flowing design contains elements of both Art Nouveau and the transitional years which transmuted into Art Deco.

Size: 5¾ x 5¼ ins (approx 14.5 x 14 cms)

£50.00

Black Sunray Design Hair Comb

Ref: DE-0904-006

Futurism discarded the art of the past in favour of change, originality and innovation. It glorified the new technology of the automobile and the glory of speed and power and movement. This influence can be seen in the design of combs like this whereby spokes or openwork lines radiate outwards from the base of the heading.

This is a very typical motif in Art Deco combs, and in the art of the period. Some people interpret the spokes as representing the wheel, and thus symbolising the Futurist fascination with speed and machinery.

The final picture comes from a contemporary postcard where a sitter wears a large Spanish style hair comb.

Size: 6½ x 7 ins (approx 16.5 x 18 cms)

£40.00

Jade Green Spiky Design Hair Comb

Ref: DE-0911-011

In general, Art Deco designs incorporated Cubist and Futurist art which influenced fashion, architecture and interior design. Very jazzy and geometric, the designs celebrated all the excitement of the machine age.  This unusual tall spiky comb is in a wonderful shade of jade green. Celluloid was a material which lent itself to a variety of decorative techniques. One of the most important was its ability to simulate natural materials such as tortoiseshell, amber, or, as here, jade. The strong contrasting angular shapes within the heading show a deep appreciation and understanding of the potential of the material.  

Size: 6¼  x 3 ins; (approx 16 x 8 cms)

£35.00

Coral Colour Scroll Design Hair Comb

Ref: DE-0911-012

This classic wedge shaped comb is in a wonderful shade of bright coral. It alternates blade like elements with panels of open scrollwork. These Art Deco combs were produced in a variety of fancy colours and effects which wonderfully mimicked those of natural materials such as coral, tortoiseshell, amber, marble and mother of pearl.

Size: 5½ x 3 ins; (approx 14 x 7.5 cms)

£35.00

Tall Comb with Zoomorphic Design

Ref: DE-1008-013

One of the more exotic elements which we find in hair combs of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco period is zoomorphism, which is art that creates patterns using animal imagery, or animal style. This striking comb incorporates an image of two fabulous beast in the form of serpents or long bodied dragons. Their bodies and tails are intertwined to resemble the zoomorphic interlacement which is characteristic of Old Norse or Celtic art.

The vogue for these giant combs was recorded in various media. The Hairdressers Journal for June 1923 declared:

“Combs, jewelled, carved or plain, in many varieties of tortoiseshell, or coral, are carried out in all of the fashionable colourings. Many of these combs are really enormous and create a most becoming background. Most fashionable women wear them to one side and thus employed they are certainly chic, if a little difficult to carry off.”

Size: 6¾ x 4½ ins (approx 16.5 x 11 cms)

£40.00

Fan Shaped Butterscotch Colour Comb

Ref: DE-1008-014

Many Art Deco combs are in pure, abstract forms, with little surface ornamentation for a very powerful effect. The strong geometric shapes show a deep appreciation and understanding of the potential of the material. Many ornaments produced under the influence of Art Deco reflect the qualities of the modernist and futurist art movements, and the aesthetics of the Bauhaus. In modernism the emphasis was upon the medium, and the process of production, rather than the intrinsic value of the materials, while the Bauhaus was an attempt to combine craftsmanship and high design with mass production.

Futurism discarded the art of the past in favour of change, originality and innovation. It glorified the new technology of the automobile and the glory of speed, power and movement. The influence can be seen in the design of this comb whereby a modification of the classic Art Deco spokes motif can be discerned. In this design openwork lines radiate outwards from the base of the heading. Some people interpret the spokes as representing the wheel, and thus symbolising the Futurist fascination with speed and machinery.

Size: 8 x 8½ ins (approx 20 x 21.5 cms)

£35.00