Author Archives: BarbaraAnne

Creative Museum: Exhibition at the Musée d’Angoulême

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Online community is still miraculous. In addition to publishing superb books, our devotion to the beauty and cultural revelation of combs is being recognized by museums.

Thirty combs from the Creative Museum join headdresses from the private collection of Antoine de Galbert for a “world tour” exhibition at the Musée d’Angoulême. En Tête à Tête: Parures de tête à travers le monde (English translation: From Head to Head: Headpieces from Around the World) will show from October 1 to December 31, 2011.

Noticing our online achievements, curators are realizing that hair combs “mark the beat of life… are privileged witnesses to cultural identites… and are immersed in a magical vision.” We did it. We’re walking in the front door. Today is a glorious day. Hi Birds. :-)

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For more scholarly research, please examine

Prehistoire de la Charente: Les temps ante-historiques en Angoumois a travers les collections du Musee d’Angouleme (French Edition)

Ainsi soit-il : Collection Antoine de Galbert – Extraits

The Ebay Auction Everyone Was Talking About

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Remember that two Empire diadems with almost all the seed pearls missing sold at Sotheby’s 3 years ago for $3000 a piece. Now, incredulously, a dealer from Belgium got the hair comb collection of a lifetime, and sold it on E-Bay for basically nothing. I couldn’t BELIEVE my eyes.

This French Empire seed pearl comb IN EXCELLENT CONDITION sold for *drum roll* $597.77. He started the bidding at $145. Do you think Sotheby’s could have sold it for $5000? I do.

This one sold for $439.

I have been obsessed with this auction all week, and I can finally talk about it! Oh my God, the bargains people got. Congratulations to all the winners.

There were some absolute masterpieces in this collection. Here is a selection with the final selling prices. I don’t know who the collector was, but this was a life’s work of love, devotion, and scholarship. A book could have been published about this collection. The Creative Museum family saw a few of their grandmother’s combs and devoted their lives to turning her interest into a monument. I feel this woman’s heirs, if she had any, saw her life’s love and threw it away.

Sterling silver comb. The bird on top of leaves has a ruby, and the edges are decorated with moonstones: $910.

The coral tiara part of an Empire comb: $760

An 18K gold and diamond top to a blonde tortoiseshell hair pin, c. 1890: $680

A magnificently ornate coral tiara from an Empire comb: $549

Amethyst Empire comb in almost perfect condition: $458

18th-Century ivory comb from Ceylon: $400

French art nouveau tinted horn comb, autumn leaves, c. 1905: $393 I am not sure if any of them were signed, but the art nouveau pieces reminded me of Elizabeth Bonte.

Magnificent French seed-pearl tiara hinged onto a horn comb: $362.88

Three brass thistles decorate a horn comb, c. 1905: $150

Two tinted horn combs, which might be Elizabeth Bonte. One with red flowers ($275), the other with two dragonflies facing each other ($190.50). The dragonflies’ legs are elongated to make the tines of the comb. This is the same idea Lalique used in his famous Two Swallows with a Stalk of Oats.

There was also a beautiful art nouveau comb with chrysanthemums, a favorite flower of the Japanese ($225.49).

This comb was a Victorian tortoiseshell back comb with paste stones, but the blue and green colors were beautiful ($273).

There was also a greek key pattern hand piqued into a tiara hinged onto a tortoiseshell comb, c. 1870 ($148):

Do you think this hair pin on almost transparent blonde tortoiseshell was made of real diamonds? ($166.38)

This ivory hair pin with a woman figure on it was also beautiful ($161), as was this ivory snake comb ($145).

There were two Victorian blonde tortoiseshell combs, which sold for $71 and $46, respectively.

A gorgeous Bonaz rounded out the auction ($170.39)

Did Sotheby’s Make A Mistake?

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Here is an openwork ivory comb they identified as being from the Nasrid dynasty of 15th-Century Spain. Its handle of openwork designs resides in the center and supports a row of thicker teeth on the top and finer ones on the bottom. The sides have crescent designs. The auction house estimated its value between the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Sotheby’s sale date: October 5, 2011.

However, from the research of our scholar Kajetan Fiedorowicz, the comb is Spanish, but not from the 15th Century. At best it is from the mid-18th Century, which would make the price estimate incorrect. $1000 would be a better estimate.

Why would a comb from the Nasrid dynasty of 15th Century Spain be so valuable? Because it was a time when Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived and thrived in peace.

The Moors conquered Spain when Almohad Caliphate was defeated in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Muslim rulers founded the Nasrid dynasty in Granada in 1232. Twenty-three emirs ruled until 1492, when Muhammad XII surrendered to Queen Isabella of Castille and León and Ferdinand of Aragon. That same year Tomás de Torquemada was given the title of First Inquisitor General and convinced Ferdinand to expel the Jews.

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For more scholarly research, please examine

The Comb, by Jen Cruse — page 54

Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500

Obsessionistas: The Story of the Creative Museum

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The Creative Museum was featured in the British online magazine, Obsessionistas, this month.

How did this 30-year, 2000-comb collection start? With the treasures of a grandmother.

The wife of a French army captain, Leona Petit collected a small number of combs from around the world. After she died, her grandchildren noticed the combs in her wardrobe. Fascinated, they realized these small objects symbolized the history and culture of those who made them. The brother, sister, and her husband decided to devote their lives to continuing their grandmother’s legacy.

Today, it has become a prestigious online museum, which is making its entrance into real museum exhibitions. I am sure Mme. Petit is looking down from heaven with joy. Here are some of my favorite pieces. Other parts of the collection are in the article.

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For more scholarly research, please examine

Chinese and Japanese Hair Ornaments by The Creative Museum

Ella Naper Lily-Pad Combs

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Ella married painter Charles W.S. Naper, who became well-known for his English countryside landscapes. They lived and worked in Lamorna, a fishing village in West Cornwall. Ella made this pair of lily-pad combs out of green-tinted horn, and created the dewdrops from moonstones, c. 1906.

And here is her portrait, painted by her husband.

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For more scholarly research, please examine

Ella and Charles Naper: Art & Life at Lamorna

Art Nouveau Jewelry, by Vivienne Becker

Diamond Tiara / Diamond Pin

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In the Victorian Era, jewelry was convertible. A set of three diamond sprays would come with different fittings. In this 1855 example from Hunt & Roskell of London, the diamond pieces combined to make a tiara or corsage pin, were worn individually as brooches. Or, the two larger pieces could be attached to tortoiseshell side combs. The fittings were placed neatly in the original velvet box, underneath the pad on which the diamonds rested. The initials MP and a Viscount’s coronet were stamped on top. They suggest the diamonds belonged to Mary Portman, wife of the 2nd Viscount Portman, who married in 1855.

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For more scholarly research, please examine

7000 Years of Jewelry

Creative Museum in Weranda Magazine

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The Creative Museum was featured in Poland’s Weranda Magazine. The Polish-to-English translation was done by Kajetan Fiedorowicz. (Thank you!) Both of us thought real scholarship in hair-comb history was too vast to be portrayed in a magazine article. However, here is what Weranda wrote. They tried, I guess. My favorite part was the way they photographed a small portion of The Creative Museum’s collection.

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“Combs were used to underline natural beauty, bring luck in love, and scare off bad spirits. In the beginning, fish-skeleton combs were used as bug removers. Supplied by Mother Nature, they had nothing to do with hair grooming at all.

“In Ancient Greece, an anonymous first woman left a comb in her hair as an ornament out of boredom. We don’t know who she was, but her novelty was immediately noted, and a new fashion trend started. Craftsmen carved beautiful scenes on ivory and bone. Upper-class women would wear combs made of gold and silver, often encrusted with precious stones.

“In the Middle Ages, combs went back to being utilitarian. Sometimes, an inscription “memento mori” would remind one of unavoidable death. (Editor’s note: the carving art was reserved for liturgical combs, especially in France.) Most women covered their hair with headdresses.

“In the 16th Century, combs became ornaments made of expensive materials once more. They denoted social status, as did jewelry or a fan. Since a wig was able to support a heavier comb safely, their popularity allowed jewelers to adorn combs with additional precious stones.

“The 19th Century brought the Industrial Revolution to comb making. In France, Germany, and in also in Poland, gutta percha and early plastics replaced expensive tortoiseshell, making combs cheaper and affordable to the general public.

“Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, known for her innovations in jewelry design, played a leading role in creating new trends in hair combs. Jewelers became very busy trying to please the queen.

“Today we have wide access to various combs. However, those truly amazing pieces are available only in museums and well guarded private collections.”

Susan Maxwell Schmidt: LongLocks HairSticks

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We are honored to present an interview with jewelry artist Susan Maxwell Schmidt of LongLocks HairSticks. Her philosophy of making each piece a one-of-a-kind work of art has given her jewelry an international fan base. Of course everyone wants to know how she does it.

BA: How do you choose your beads?

Susan: “Whenever I look at a bead, I imagine it on one of my designs. I don’t try to do this, I can’t help but do this. If I like what my mind’s eye sees, then it gets added to my massive bead collection. Not that I don’t sometimes buy beads with no intention of ever putting them on hair sticks (a set of hand-carved huge but gorgeously delicate smoky topaz leaves I bought for a necklace comes to mind). That being said however, I’ll sit on some beads for years and “rediscover” them again at some point, and often what I end up using them for is entirely different from the purpose for which I initially bought them.”

BA: Do you look at the bead and choose the hair-stick style, or does your creative process go the other way around?

Susan: I swing both ways. Special-edition design sticks are often designed for the beads. I give myself more leeway in designing the other way around for regular designs, which gives me an excuse to forage through the bead drawers. I have them arranged by company/country/color in my studio. In addition, there are boxes of beads I haven’t had a chance to organize yet. That’s when I do a lot of the “rediscovering” I mentioned earlier. “Whoa, where’d they come from? Never seen those before!”

BA: What inspires you to come up with a new LongLocks HairSticks style?

Susan: Anything that is artistic or can be perceived from an artistic point of view. I have been inspired by things as simple as a color, a pattern in fabric, or a single painting or dyeing technique. My most unusual inspiration came when Home Depot screwed me on a granite order so I finished the horrendous Formica countertops in my otherwise gorgeous kitchen in copper foil with veining of multicolor metallic earth tones and a buff of black acrylic. Once the whole thing was sealed under a thick coat of Bar Coat, I loved it so much I had to do something similar on hair sticks. That’s how LongLocks MineraliStix and RomanzaStix were born (put them together and you know what my kitchen counters look like).

BA: Which fashion icons have inspired you, in your art and in your life?

Susan: I don’t know that my art is directly inspired by fashion icons but surely it ends up being affected by my fashion sense and tastes. I am a fashionista, and though I do love clothes my uncontrollable shopping addiction is all about accessories, especially jewelry, handbags and shoes. I am currently on a major Kendra Scott kick and think I’ll end up owning just about every pair of chandelier earrings and cuff she makes. I feel as though as far as design goes, she is to affordable designer jewelry what I am to hair accessories… if I designed production jewelry, it would all be in the same style as Kendra Scott’s. My favorite fashion designers (keeping it to the bare minimum and keeping it in the moment) are Alexander McQueen, Marchesa, Dior, Zuhair Murad and Valentino. My fav accessories designers are Alexander McQueen, Furla, Isabella Fiore, Adrienne Vittadini and Chanel. And Kate Spade. And Oscar de la Renta. And Judith Leiber. And Charles Jourdan. And Hype. And Marc Jacobs. And Junior Drake. And La Fiorentina. And…

BA: Everyone knows your designs come from your own creativity. That is why you have such a fan base. How do you feel about people who rip off your designs?

Susan: You know, it used to bother me a lot but years ago someone pointed out to me how much better it is to be in the position of being the one people want to copy rather than being someone so sadly unimaginative as to have to copy others. That was an epiphany for me and changed my entire outlook on the subject. There are so few people who are seriously designing handmade upscale hair jewelry that it becomes blatantly obvious to hair jewelry collectors who is copying whom. Considering how often it’s pointed out to me that someone else has done a poor job of imitating my ideas or my designs, I’ve come to the conclusion that they do infinitely more harm to themselves and their own reputation than they can possibly do to me.

Integrity is important to me and my customers know that. My designs are my designs and my customers know that. Other “artist’s” ideas are often my ideas and many of my customers tell me that. I don’t spend time thinking about what anyone else is doing and I rarely even bother to look at anyone else’s designs or sites. It’s just not important to me, and my time definitely is, so that’s not how I choose to spend it.

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For more addictive shopping at affordable prices and hair-care information, please examine

LongLocks HairSticks

Longlocks Special Edition Designs

The Hair Care Recipes Cookbook

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Long Hair