From the Creative Museum
This elegant painted horn comb touches those who have Lalique hearts. Even though the design is layered, the transparency allows light to shine through the comb, perfectly expressing a dragonfly in real life.
There is a lovely silver framed Edo set selling on Ebay for $1250. Using studs to attach the floral decoration to the kushi’s silver frame, the artist punctuates it with coral beads. The dealer dates the set as 1900 – 1920.
Here is why I am doubting his dates.
1. The size of the silver frame in relation to the comb looks Edo to me.
2. The comb itself is tortoiseshell, while the frame is silver.
3. The tortoiseshell comb has bug bites, a sign of age.
4. The floral design is attached to the comb instead of being cut out of one piece.
5. The cutting in the middle of the kogai stick is a line in the middle of two hearts, facing inward.
6. The kogai stick has the same decorative theme as the kushi. In modern pieces that mimic the Edo era, the kushi is usually accompanied by an oversized kanzashi, not a kogai stick.
7. Here is another silver Edo set that sold on ebay. In fact, I think it was my first blog post!
The full set selling on Ebay:
The kushi front and back, where you can see the floral design is attached.
A similar set from Miriam Slater’s collection. Notice the cutting of the line in between two hearts on the kogai.
A piece from my collection: this is Taisho. The silver design, comb and theme of flowers in water, are all carved out of one piece of silver, and adorned with gilded brass and black for color. My set is accompanied by a kanzashi, not a kogai.
What does everyone think? Am I seeing this comb set correctly? Agreements / Disagreements welcome.
I would like to welcome two new authors to our community blog.
An award-winning Canadian modern artist, Jessica Beauchemin creates balanced abstract wood sculptures, which I feel mirror the design sense of Alexander Calder.
Our second new author is Miriam Slater. We have had passionate conversations about Japanese hair ornaments for years, and she has put her collection online. When I saw what she had, I fainted. She will write about her own collection, as is proper, but as I have absolutely no emotional control, I must share three pieces. They are all Edo masterpieces, and I am sure Miriam will have more to say about her work in future posts.
Ivory Edo half-moon comb of plover birds sitting on a cherry tree branch, with blossoms.
Tortoiseshell Edo comb of three carp swimming in the water. The carving on the fish is so detailed, they almost have human expressions.
Do you see how the turtle is looking from underneath the water at the birds flying above? The artist achieves this metaphor by hooking the birds to the kushi with silver finials and coral beads. Brilliant.
