On September 15, 2009, a comb from the Ivory Coast made from Hippopotamus bone sold for $1200 at Sotheby’s. It featured a bird on top of a woman’s head, a symbol of fertility. Last Friday, May 13, another comb of the same design and material sold for $4062. Sotheby’s also tried to sell this comb…
My server is up and running again. I’m so happy! Thank you brother Josh!!!!! We have a new author. Announcement tomorrow. Here is a beautiful Ashanti comb from the Lazar collection, which was on display at the Oceanside Museum of Art.
African intellectual history came alive when sculptors placed figures on top of hair combs. These ideas are beautifully shown in Facing Me, Facing You, a video narrated by the Creative Museum.
A friend pointed this out to me from E-Bay France. It is a masterpiece, and the way-too-expensive 850-euro price tag reflects it. There were only three copies made in the Nefertiti Gallery, located in the Dakar Region of Senegal. One is owned by the President; the second was offered to the wife of a European…
Catherine Olliveaud and Alain Touzinaud, whose inspiring collection is featured in The Creative Museum have acquired some notable pieces of African art, which has a rich tradition of anthropomorphism, or carving emotions into animals, which display a profound understanding of the human condition. From the Akan people of Ghana, this painted wood comb portrays the…
There is a book called, “Powerful Headdresses: Africa and Asia,” which documents the collection of Mrs. Myrna Brind, the wife of Philadelphia philanthropist, Ira Brind. On the cover is a chief’s crown of the Dogon People, who live in the central plateau region of Mali. The bird atop this bronze crown represents ancestors. However, alain-t,…
Art Nouveau’s dedication to the natural world ignited European artists from 1890 – 1905. However, brilliant design has many faces, among them fashion still worn today. In the book, Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa, author Hans Sylvester reveals a fashion revolution in design thinking: Art Nouveau and Art Deco meld into a single concept…
The illegal e-waste trade is thriving in Accra, Ghana. Young men burn old computers to extract and sell the copper. Photographer Quedraogo, a finalist in the Prix Pictet Competition, shows “The Hell of Copper.” A young man balances a crown of copper cables.
There is a completeness to this 2500-comb collection, as it spans the whole world and time. Most individual collections specialize. This museum brings together the love of many in a dazzling display of hair comb art. The pictures are a community unto themselves. The museum founders state, “There is nowhere you can see this collection,…
This comb comes from the Solomon Islands of Australia. Its curve was made by a flattened hand. Twenty-five dark-brown tapered wooden prongs form the teeth. The top is held together with thin strings of woven plant fiber, creating compatible red and yellow geometric patterns. There are no religions or hierarchies in this piece. Great artists…