Recently, as I was perusing the web for something magnificent, I found that Jen Cruse wrote an astonishingly educated book about the history of comb making. It talks about the comb making art from ancient cultures to the present. She includes the liturgical combs, which I’ve featured here, the French ivory H combs of the 14th century, as well as combs depicted in paintings, stained glass, and other materials. Her personal collection numbers 1500. Wow! You can get the book from Robert Hale Publishers.

This is the comb on the front cover, closeup. I’m going to guess this is a Chinese-made ivory comb for the Victorian market. If I’m wrong, please comment. But this is an absolutely drop-dead museum-piece comb.



And here is the book cover.