Category Archives: Chinese Hair Comb

m a Wedding Set for an Imperial Chinese Princess?

A sea captain brought this home from China for his wife. She never wore it but told her daughter about it, and kept it in a cedar chest her whole life. Her daughter, now 71, was selling it because she was about to move in with her own daughter. I bought it for $178.50 You may refer to auction #200202852076. I have no way to tell you how my breath was taken away when I opened the box. Coral, jade, kingfisher feathers. I thought maybe it was one of a pair of ornaments from a wedding set for a princess of the Imperial Palace. Each ornament would be on one side of a stick. Can anyone date this? The ornateness of the design seems earlier than 1920 to me, but I’m not sure.

Some Lovely Chinese Kingfisher Pieces

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Since I’m on an authenticity kick today, I’ll feature three beautiful antique Chinese kingfisher pieces. One is a tiara and pin set, which sold at an ebay live auction for $250 on May 18. This brass tiara was inlaid with kingfisher feathers, jade, coral and pearls, with minor loss to the feathers and stones. The drop was 2 3/4″, set with small coral beads; and had significant feather loss.

Here is a lovely authentic antique Chinese hair ornament selling on Trocadero for $590. It depicts a still life with jade leaves, rose quartz flowers, and a vase on a metal stand. The ornament also has books and scrolls with Chinese characters written on them, part of a silversmith’s mark stamped on the side (De…), and the kingfisher feathers have come off. The seller dates this to the early 1800s, Qing Dynasty. I don’t know enough to check him. Comments welcome on this, but I have liked this little piece for a long time.

When I see those little Chinese oraments on Ebay, which all look the same, with all the kingfisher feathers in perfect place, for $40, I get suspicious right away. However, the oraments featured here are authentic Chinese antiques. You can see they have ideas in them. The price goes up, the less damage there is to the feathers.

Chinese Combs

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I have focused much attention on Japanese artists, but China has a magnificent comb tradition of its own. Chinese artists used feathers from the kingfisher bird, now endangered. On most combs the feathers have worn off. There are a lot of Chinese sellers on ebay now, who advertise kingfisher hair pins. I am not so sure these pins are authentic. How would sellers be able to produce these hairpins in the quantity needed for a business, if the source material were rarely available? “These are mysteries, Straker,” as P.G. Wodehouse would say. However, here is a picture of a genuine kingfisher feather Chinese comb. It is very rare to find one in this condition.

This Chinese hair ornament was made by Tinfook, c. 1890, and was given to the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum by Mrs. Randolph Hearst, Jr. It is made of gold, jade, and pearls.

For The Birds

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Man’s love affair with creating birds started with the earliest cave paintings. They are everywhere, and have always been a major theme in comb making. Recently, a beautiful ivory bird comb, Chinese c.1870, sold for $350. It got me thinking about doing a collection of bird combs on the blog. A friend of mine graciously sent me pictures of bird combs in her private collection. I own two bird combs, and there is a remarkable swallow comb at The Tadema Gallery in London. So here they are… the birds.

Mythical Bird on Edo Kogai stick, c. 1850

Ivory bird comb, Chinese, c.1870, sold Sept. 30, 2006 for $350, ebay.

Ivory Bird on a bamboo tree, Chinese, c. 1870, a private collection.

Tortoiseshell Bird on a stick, Italian, c.1870, my private collection.

Ivory birds in a flower garden, Chinese, c. 1880, a private collection

Black Crow on a Meiji Kushi, c. 1890

Silver filigree, micromosaic decoration, Italian, c. 1898.

Swallow Comb, c. 1900, gilded silver and plique-a-jour enamel, from the British Arts and Crafts period, The Tadema Gallery, London. The price range for this comb is 2,500 to 5,000 British Pounds Sterling.

Three art deco parrot combs, celluloid, c. 1920, a private collection.

White Jade Hairpin

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This white jade hairpin comes from 17th-Century China and has a kylin finial, length 8″. A kylin, or Qilin, is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature that brought serenity, and was used as a good luck omen. People think it was the first Chinese name for giraffe. This is an absolutely magnificent piece, which went for $550 on August 26, 2006..

Memories and Private Collections

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These are just some beautiful combs. For those beginning their road into the intense world of comb collecting, it is always nice to see what you might find if you look hard enough. This is an English art deco comb.

This is a French art deco comb by Auguste Bonaz. Notice the depth of the red, the proportions of this. The rhinestone design in the center is still used by French hair accessory designers today.