This late-Edo tortoiseshell comb is held in an open silver frame with a silver mount Fuji behind gold and silver birds. The fruit on the tree are pearls. A similar decoration graces the matching kogai stick. It comes in its original box and is selling for $1400 on Trocadero.
I also liked this carved gilt lacquer comb inlaid with mother of pearl flowers and decorated with flying cranes. With matching kogai stick, the set is signed Sho Rin. It is selling for $1200 on Trocadero.
However,I just bought my second Chinese export comb for the Victorian market, c. 1890, because it had a bird on it, and I don’t have a birdie comb. ;-) The price was $355 on ebay.
Aha! ‘Twas you who acquired the export peacock lovely! ;o) I was watching, simply to see how high it would go – nowhere near what I thought, though social security disability only allows me to “watch” and not partake in auctions that soar out of my ceiling: $20! ;o) (Not quite that bad, but close….)
Enjoy!
Hi Peggy!
I also thought it was worth more than $355. I was terrified it would go for something like $500+. One dealer on Ruby Lane listed a Chinese export comb with a bird for $950. Let’s just say I didn’t buy that one.
But a similarly beautiful one for $9.99 with no reserve? I gasped. That’s when I knew I have to have it. I can’t buy the combs at Sothebys or Christies. I just look at them and cry. :-)
So I put in a snipe bid to kill. I guessed some of the people who might be bidding. I don’t know if I guessed correctly, but I figured they wanted more of a bargain than I did and would not bid more than they thought it was worth. This gave me a better chance to win, without paying anywhere near what my snipe bid was.
So I was praying, too, to see how high it would go. LMAO
Best to you…
BA