Category Archives: Creative Museum

Jen Cruse: Exhibition for the Creative Museum

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In an “Around the World in 80 Comb” exhibition, author Jen Cruse shares her collection with the Creative Museum. Her presentation enunciates the stunning diversity of comb design across the world and across time.

My favorite is this Chinese ivory comb, which depicts Shou Xing, the Chinese God of Longevity. He is part of the Taoist concept of Fu Lu Shou. Taoism dates back to the the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), when the Han Chinese ended Genghis Khan’s Mongolian rule.

With a high bald head, Shou Xing smiles gently as he carries a branch with peaches of immortality from the garden of Xi Wang Mu. His small helper looks on. The comb is curved because it is made from the top of an elephant tusk.

The peaches are visible on the back of the comb.

Other combs in the collection include this black Bonaz with gold plum flowers,

this celluloid Art Deco American comb with gold paint, whose blue is the same color as a Tiffany & Co. shopping bag,

and a seed-pearl aigrette.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine the publications of the Creative Museum and Jen’s book


The Comb: Its History and Development

The Creative Museum: From Art Nouveau to Art Deco

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Part two of The Creative Museum’s presentation, “From Art Nouveau to Art Deco,” will be appearing on October 22. I am looking forward to it because their scholarship is immaculate.

Here are a few of my favorite Art Deco combs from their collection. They are all by Auguste Bonaz. I think it is interesting to see how his designs developed from 1910 – 1925, especially the two combs in the same shape. In 1910, he did red and black. In 1920, the same shaped comb displays a completely different idea.

1910

1910

1920

1920

1925

For more history and insight, you’ll have to wait for The Creative Museum’s presentation. :-)

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine the other exhibitions at The Creative Museum.

The Riches of the French Empire

Facing Me, Facing You

EN TÊTE À TÊTE, dedicated to headdresses, the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Angoulême

Eyes Open: Tribal Combs and Masks

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When light or wind passes through, the open eyes of a mask can haunt you. Ancestral spirits look back. I wanted to show some tribal combs and masks, whose open designs allow this emotional exchange to happen.

From The Creative Museum‘s African collection come these examples:

These three 20th Century hairpins with masks are ivory. They were made by the Zande people who live in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Zande also inhabit portions of South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

In Angola, the Ganguela are a small minority ethnic group made up of several tribes, each with their own language and social identity. The Lwimbi tribe is one of these. They are known for beekeeping and making pointed masks with open designs.

The Boa people live in the Northern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their art features masks with prominent, round ears, which signify alertness in a warrior. The first comb has a representational head with red eyes and round ears. However, the second comb is more symbolic. Both the head and ears are round circles, and the ears are at arms length to give balance to the piece. I don’t think a Western modern artist could have done better.

The Baule tribe is one of the Akan peoples, who inhabit Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Their religion is centered around ancestor worship and nature gods.

These two masks are from the Gina Hellweger Collection. “This mask is an Ogoni Animal Mask from Nigeria. The Ogoni people live to the east of the Niger delta. They have retained a vital varied masquerading activity that is in part deeply rooted in their own tradition and in part adopted from neighboring ethnic groups, such as the Ibibio or Ijo tribes. Masks depciting wild animals are danced on the occasion of agrarian rituals.

“This mask is an old one from the Bambara people that live in central and southern Mali.”

Last, from the Bruce Frank Art Gallery comes this antique mask from Pora Pora in the East Sepik Provence of Papua New Guinea. This is the most haunting mask I have seen yet. It is made from terra cotta, has an elongated nose, and is pierced for attachment.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine these books, which can be found in our Resource Library.


Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment
Hair in African Art and Culture
Powerful Headdresses: Africa and Asia

The Creative Museum: From Art Nouveau to Art Deco, part 1

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Highlighting intricately carved and painted horn combs, The Creative Museum defines the link between Art Nouveau and the mysterious delicacy of women. Women became inextricably linked to flowers, wearing jewelry whose wavy lines expressed a wild and spontaneous nature.

Japanese influence impacted subject matter, as insects, stems and buds caught artists’ attention. Lalique was the first one to use horn and discover the material’s possibilities. Others followed. Hair comb art became the equal of its engineering, as flowers grew on trellises and dragonflies flew across ponds.

Here are just a few pieces from The Creative Museum’s Art Nouveau collection. To see the rest of them, put in historical narrative, I urge everyone to see the presentation.

Lalique Diadem at Christie’s

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René Lalique integrated sculpture, Symbolist philosophy, Japanese ideas, and new materials to reign as the genius of Art Nouveau design. He was also a keen observer of daily life. How many children would place garlands Christmas trees?

In this diadem, tree branches of green enamel and small diamond flowers are decorated with a mabe pearl garland. It sold at Christie’s for $112,561 on June 17, 2008.

The Creative Museum is premiering a new exhibition, From Art Nouveau to Art Deco on July 21, 2012. “This exhibition provides an insight into the characteristics of Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. An in-depth study of the influence of these two movements on hair ornaments and styles yields meaningful findings.”

I hope everyone attends.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine these books, which can be found in our Resource Library.


The Paris Salons, 1895-1914: Jewellery, Vol. 2: The Designers L-Z
Imperishable Beauty
Sotheby’s Catalog: Fouquet Jewelry

The Creative Museum World Tour

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Another blog wrote about them: Le Blog de Cameline! She tells the story of the family in French. This post will be an English translation, and then I will pick some of my favorite combs from this magnificent collection, so we can enjoy both posts.

Cameline says, “The Creative Museum is a virtual museum devoted to hair ornaments.

Its history began 100 years ago, when Little Leona accompanied her military husband around the world. As she traveled, she collected treasures, which she kept in a shoe box. Upon her death, her grandchildren found the box. Wonder and passion was instantly exchanged through the generations.”

It was a moment that changed the family’s life forever. The grandchildren — thinking out of the box? (don’t kill me you guys :-) — collected over 2500 hair ornaments from all over the world and became scholars on their history. Chosen with a great eye, bought with bargaining acumen, written about beautifully, and photographed brilliantly, this collection is documented online for the world to see.

It has made its way into real museums, and the site is famous for its virtual exhibitions. The value of Leona’s passion has been realized. I cannot help but think of Emily Dickinson, one of America’s greatest poets, who hid her genius in a trunk, too, until her family opened it and had an epiphany.

Cameline chose her favorite pieces from The Creative Museum, so I encourage everyone to read her post. But here are a few of mine:

This bearded mask wears a traditional bird comb, a symbol of fertility. From the Kpeliye Brotherhood of the Senufo people, they are worn at the Royal Court. It comes from the Ivory Coast, c. 1950.

This tortoiseshell hairpin features a claw from a bird of prey. It is from North America.

This Afghan barrette dangles pendants below red and green gemstones. c. 1940.

Two phoenixes face each other in this 19th Century Chinese jade comb.

English Art Nouveau jewelers made this brass woman with flowers instead of feet and a crescent on her head.

In Japan, they loved ravens. The Meiji style has the drawing fold over to the back of the kushi.

Swedish silversmiths were well known for their Minimalist style, as in this wedding tiara with pearls and tourmalines designed by Ulf Sandberg of Göteborg.

When celluloid was invented in 1862, comb-making machines lowered the cost of production considerably. In France, the industry center was in Oyonnax. Innovative design thrived with the flexibility new plastics and speed of production. This hand-painted daisy comb is a prime example of a comb made between the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods.

Completing our world tour is a stop in New Guinea, where ancestor worship was predominant in the culture. From the Keram River area in a Kambot village comes this bamboo hair pin.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine the publications of the Creative Museum, as well as these books, which can be found in our Resource Library.


The Comb: Its History and Development
Le Peigne Dans Le Monde
Tiara

Huge comb from Argentina

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By The Creative Museum: English translation is in the first comment.

En los comienzos del Siglo XIX en el Río de la Plata, hizo furor la moda de peinetones. Fue una herencia española pero en estas tierras llegaron a tener tales dimensiones que finalmente fueron una característica original de la vestimenta nacional.

En ciertos círculos de la sociedad porteña, se llevó a una competencia por ver quién usaba un peinetón más ornamentado y de mayor tamaño. Tal es la exageración a la que lleva la moda de la época, que llegaron a verse en Buenos Aires, peinetones de más de un metro de ancho. Eran tan grandes que dos damas no podían caminar al mismo tiempo por la vereda… Esa moda fue ridiculizada por el editor Cesar H. Bacle en dibujos humorísticos.

Alrededor de 1823, había en Buenos Aires cuatro fabricantes importantes de peinetas, peines y peinetones : Martín Suárez, Manuel Masculino, Salvador Vitela y Custodio Peis. El más famoso fue Masculino, cuya imaginación era sin límite. Masculino era un peinero Español que cuando llegó a Buenos Aires ya se usaba la peineta, pero él la convirtió en peinetón. Además de su habilidad para imponer un nuevo estilo, introdujo algunas novedades tecnológicas, como el uso de cierta maquinaria que permitió abaratar la producción. Estos fabricantes utilizaban materiales, entre ellos carey, imitación de carey, hueso, asta, y muchos de ellos con incrustaciones en oro, plata, marfil o nácar.

El Creative Museum ha adquirido recientemente en el Rastro de París un modelo de esta época. El vendedor dijo que lo tenía de un diplomático. Es una maravilla de carey de gran tamano (unos 30 centímetros / about 13 inches) con incrustaciones de oro.

Otros modelos se encuentran en el Creative Museum :

http://www.creative-museum.com/en/content/huge-tortoiseshell-comb-colonial-style-2

http://www.creative-museum.com/en/content/huge-masculino-comb-argentina-5

http://www.creative-museum.com/en/content/huge-comb-argentina

Se encuentran también en el Museo de Arte Hispano Americano Isaac Fernández Blanco de la Municipalidad de Buenos Aires donde existe una variadísima colección de peinetones.

Para saber más, se aconseja el libro El peinetón de Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer. Está escrito en castellano con muchas ilustraciones.

http://www.creative-museum.com/en/content/bibiography

 

Japanese Kushi Themes

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In the Edo and Meiji eras, kushi became canvasses, on which artists could paint or carve cultural and religious symbols. Early Edo kushi had only one simple idea on a large comb-canvas. Late Edo kushi were still bigger than Meiji pieces, but both eras produced square and half-moon shapes.

From the Okazaki collection come these two Edo kushi: The first is painted red lacquer with white cranes. The crane symbolized freedom and was a balance to Minogame, the old tortoise who symbolized longevity and stability. Both symbols are important at weddings.

The second is an square-shaped ivory kushi with mother-of-pearl decorations including a pear, leaves, and a butterfly.

From the Miriam Slater Collection comes this tortoiseshell Edo kushi with a relief sculpture of three carp…

…and this late Edo set depicting the gifts of the seven gods of fortune: health, longevity, happiness, victory in war, knowledge, art, and wealth.

In the Meiji Era, artists sunk jewels into their tortoiseshell kushi, such as these amethyst leaves and flower from the Belva Green collection.

The Creative Museum just acquired this set with painted dragonflies on a lake, bordered with flowering trees. A set like this would very likely been seen in France, as the dragonfly is one of the landmark themes of Art Nouveau.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine The Creative Museum’s exhibition Chine et Japon: A Fleur de Tete and Okazaki Collection: Combs and Ornamental Hairpins (Japanese Edition)

You are also welcome to examine these books:


Okazaki Collection: Combs and Ornamental Hairpins (Japanese Edition)
Japanese Kimono Hair Comb – The Museum Collection (Japanese Edition)
The Comb: Its History and Development

Japanese Tama Kanzashi Themes

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Japanese women’s hairstyles became works of art during the Edo period (1603-1868). Lush ornamentation with kushi- and kogai-stick sets, accompanied by kanzashi followed. Only rulers, samurai clans, and other aristocratic families had mon, or crests to indicate their status. In the Meiji period (1868-1912), common families were allowed to obtain mon.

Tama is a type of kanzashi, which usually has a red or green ball. However, Meiji families also substituted their crests, or artists carved familiar cultural themes. Ivory and tortoiseshell kanzashi sticks could be as intricate as the featured decoration. Metal sticks could be used as weapons.

From the Okazaki Collection comes this group of brass kanzashi. They feature objects, which express Japanese culture: a lantern, water buckets, an instrument, carp, and a bird looking at a cherry blossom.

The Creative Museum has just obtained this magnificent Meiji ivory tama kanzashi with a family crest. The flower has a stone, and the stick is painted. It comes in the original box.

The ivory kanzashi of the the crescent moon with coral buds and the bird with two beads on a painted stick belong to Miriam Slater. The geisha in the center is mine.

From tama, we can travel back in time and imagine what life must have been like in Meiji Japan: the animals and flowers they loved, what people ate, their technology, and the music they played. It must have been a wonderful world.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please examine The Creative Museum’s exhibition Chine et Japon: A Fleur de Tete and Okazaki Collection: Combs and Ornamental Hairpins (Japanese Edition)

Jen Cruse: Mongolian Hair Ornaments From Our Community

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Written by Jen Cruse, featuring the collections of Gina Hellweger and The Creative Museum.

Mongol women traditionally wore their thick black hair tied in long plaits falling forward onto their shoulders, placing slightly curved silver combs flat on the top of the head. On festive and celebratory occasions, however, distinctive and colourful costumes were offset by an elaborate headdress constructed over a metal frame and decorated with numerous silver ornaments, temple pendants, combs and hairpins, all richly enhanced by the liberal use of red coral, turquoise and amber sets and coloured enamelling. For the Mongolians, coral symbolized blood, fire and light; turquoise, water, sky and air; amber, the earth.

The two silver hairpins illustrated are decorated with coral beads and coloured enamel. These hairpins were once part of the lavish and complex head ornamentation worn by Mongolian women when dressed in traditional costume; late 19th or early 20th century. Length 4¾ ins/12.1cm.

To my fellow author, and noted collector of tribal arts, Gina Hellweger, thank you for contributing this Mongolian parure. Here we can see how they expressed blood, fire, light, water, air, and sky in all its intense beauty. Gina’s parure is made from silver, decorated with enamel, turquoise, and coral.

She was also kind enough to contribute these two sets of Mongolian hair ornaments, made of the same materials.

Mongolians also symbolized their world with jade, pearls, and black agate. From the vaults of the Creative Museum comes this magnificent, rare barrette. A brass medallion full of pearls surrounds a stone of black agate.

The museum has also contributed this silver hairpin, which is decorated with jade beads and carved flowers. Some traces of the enamel still remain.

These two silver slide bars are intricately carved with happiness motifs.

It is an honor for me to bring our community together, so we can all be inspired to learn more about the Mongolian decorative arts.

कंघी

For more scholarly research, please see the Creative Museum’s exhibition on Chinese and Japanese hair ornaments, as well as these books, which have been added to our Resource Library.

Mongol Jewelry: Jewelry Collected by the First and Second Danish Central Asian Expeditions
The Art of Silver Jewellery: From the Minorities of China
The Comb: Its History and Development