Image an elegant dinner party in 1880. Everyone is dressed in their finest clothes. The gentleman are proudly wearing glittering diamond stickpins in the brightly-colored cravats. The ladies have donned their best gown—diamonds sparkle from the wrists, necks and ears and shimmer in the gaslight. The flicker of fans, the contrast of white gloves against deep velvet, everyone is on their best behavior and the evening is ebbing with excitement. The women wear their hair in elaborate upswept coiffures, secured by myriad pins and anchored by beautiful combs which catch the light. They seem almost ethereal, almost angelic.
A comb such as this one would have seen many a grand affair. This comb, dating from about 1880, is English in origin. It’s crafted of celluloid designed to look like tortoise shell. The crown of the comb is an elaborate skeleton of wires which hold brilliant-cut white and citrine-colored rhinestones. Delicately placed at the back of a lady’s head, this comb would have been the finishing touch to her ensemble.
Like the other combs in my collection, this one has been mounted in a custom-built, velvet-lined shadow box to preserve its beauty. So many of these intimate pieces have been lost. It’s a further reminder to protect the things that we use each day. Even the most commonplace of items has an intrinsic beauty and value all its own.
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