Category Archives: English Hair Comb

I might as well just die now, I can’t afford it :-)

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From Michelle Rowan’s website, “Fine quality carved tortoiseshell comb, featuring bacchante heads in profile, circa 1880.The cameos are carved in high-relief and set to a background of floral motifs and stylised sea-creatures. The comb measures 13 cm by 13 cm [ 5 inches by 5 inches] and is in immaculate condition.” I’m basically so emotional now I can’t even write my own copy. Michelle is a cameo specialist, so when she chooses a cameo, it’s  always  beautiful. Oh price? Little detail. 1500 UKP, $3001.64.





Some Lovely Things on Ebay

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There was just a live auction for a seed pearl tiara with earrings and a broach, which went for $375. I didn’t win, in fact I don’t even see my bid registered, but I LOVED this 1820’s London tiara in its original box. Someone on the auction floor won it. You may refer to auction #350035825568.



This beautiful Sterling silver peigne Josephine comb has the makers mark K&J and a number 61. The dealer was told the maker was German. If anyone knows this jeweler, please comment. It was listed at a starting price of $500 and went unsold. You may refer to auction #150221468241.



This Auguste Bonaz art deco comb went for $169.19. In French Ivory, it’s just lovely. You may refer to auction #150223853167



And last this evening, I loved this Edo kogai stick. Such beautiful ornate decoration of a beautiful bird in a cherry blossom tree. Such perspective throughout the stick. It sold for $301.52. You may refer to auction #350036232675.

Tiaras Made From Unusual Materials

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Although we swoon from the diamond, emerald, pearl, and sapphire tiaras, there are some, which are made of unusual materials. Just like Lalique used horn, when no one else was using it, these artists experiment, too.

I’m going to start with two by contemporary artist Jan Yager. This one is in the Victoria and Albert museum in London sitting right next to the diamonds. It is made of aluminum, glass, steel, cow’s horn and feathers.



This Jan Yager tiara was featured in “Craft in America: Expanding Traditions,” in the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon. It is called “Tiara of Useful Knowledge. City Flora: The Philadelphia Series (2006)” and is made of oxidized sterling silver, 18K and 14K gold.



The third piece I want to show was made by Liz Wallace, from the Navajo/Maidu/Washoe tribes and was purchased by the Wheelright Museum of the American Indian, c. 2006. It is made of plique a jour enamel, 18K gold, and sterling silver, and I love this one.



This “Fire and Ice” tiara c. 1990 was made by Geoffrey Rowlandson for The Metal Gallery. It is made of freshwater pearls, diamonds, and 18K gold. It was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum as one of 4 pieces to represent contemporary art.



This Berlin tiara made of iron was a specialty of German foundries starting in 1804. In 1813, to finance the War of Liberation from Napoleon’s armies, German women donated their gold jewelery in exchange for iron ornaments.  This parure holds cameos of classical themes and is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It was made c. 1810.



This sterling silver tiara was made by a scientist studying brain waves in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. He made a tiara cast of one of his siezures in sterling silver. What an amazing thing to do.



I will end this post with the sublime. A complete parure made of rare pink coral, known as “angels skin coral” because of its translucent appearance. It is carved with sea horses, mermaids, dolphins, and shells, attached to a gold framework that sits to make us feel glorious at its existence in the British Museum. It was owned by the De Beaumont family since the 19th century.



Here is a closeup of the tiara.

Some Lovely Things on Ebay and Beyond

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There was an auction of gorgeous combs recently, which did very well. There was also a beautiful coral and shell comb I loved. Finally, on Ruby Lane, there was a drop-dead Peigne Josephine ivory comb in its original box, made by House of Kaldenberg in New York City (c.1840-1880) that I got to first. The dealer told me there was a storm over this comb, so I guess you can post your hate mail here. ;-) I also bought some real antique Chinese kingfisher oraments, which I love. So here they are!

This Chinese ivory comb was part of a beautiful collection. It has an elaborate floral center surrounded by a delicately hand-carved frame and sold for $260 on Feb 26. You may refer to auction #140208060513.





There was a stunning garnet tiara on a shell comb. I lost the auction, but I have the pictures. If anyone knows how much it finally sold for, please put it in the comments, and I’ll update this post.



This tortoiseshell Chinese comb with a dragon theme sold for $202.50 on Feb. 26. You may refer to auction #130198909196.





A celluloid art deco parrot comb sold for $46 on Feb 17. I have a bit of a weakness for parrots since one owns me. You may refer to auction #200199653557.



This beautiful English coral tiara hinged to a shell comb, c. 1880, sold for $257 on Feb. 28. You may refer to auction #160211215401.



And finally, the Ruby Lane ivory comb I grabbed because when I saw it, my brain exploded.





Here is what my collection box looks like. I have the 4 kingfisher ornaments I bought are in there. I love them. The butterfly pendant is in perfect condition and takes my breath away.



Spring is almost here! I hope everyone is planting. :-) 

Some Lovely Things on Ebay

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I’m going to start with a Spanish silver crown of thorns, c. 1890, which was offered by the same dealer from whom I bought my tiara, but sorry to say I lost the auction, and I don’t know if it sold. I am guessing the crown could have been worn on Good Friday, signifying the passion of Christ. Spanish Catholicism is dramatic and passionate, and I had never seen anything like this. I don’t see this piece as attempting to be beautiful, but rather to communicate suffering. Comments welcome.



The dealer thought this early Edo masterpiece was c. 1860. I disagree. The size, the fact that there is only one picture, and look at the plot of this picture, and the detail. There was one idea on each side, completely different. Both pictures were works of art in themselves, the way it is signed. I’m going to venture a guess that it’s c. 1720. Comments welcome by Japanese experts if you think I’m wrong. That it went for the ridiculous price of 75 GBP was probably because it was damaged. But for something that old, I guess if it survived in tact, it would be in a museum. Idiotically, I did not buy this.





This beautiful Meiji set of pearl berries and grape leaves just sold for $355 on Feb 10.



This gold makie kanzashi hair stick was beautiful. It sold for $255 on Jan 26.





Here is a modern comb I liked. It is made of buffalo horn and signed by the artist Genryo. It is accent with mop and inlaid gold.



This late Edo tortoiseshell comb with coral beads, ivory and brass flowers decorating a brass top is beautiful, and sold for $355 on Jan 20.



Finally, I’m going to feature a Chinese claw comb. I had a hairstick once with a claw and a blonde tortoiseshell ball that I sold to “best friend” Myrna who tells me things like I “there are products to get rid of the frizz Barbara,” when she sees my pictures, lol, but the edge of this comb has the same claw art, which I think is gorgeous and very Chinese.

Brooch Barrettes

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Sotheby’s is having a sale of important jewels, and there are no formal combs or tiaras.

But then I started looking at what they had, and thinking about Christian Lacroix and how he just threw hair fashion up in the air, saw what came down, and had the courage to create something new. I thought there were brooches that were so gorgeous in this sale you could easily wear them in your hair. In fact some had barrette and two-pronged hairpin backings.

So today, I’m going to do a collection of magnificent pieces that can double as barrettes. I chose the ones with imagination. I’ll do a post with diamond broaches from 1850 to 1950 at another time because the design changes are quite significant, but for today, we toast imagination of the artist.

This butterfuly brooch/barrette is set with orange, yellow, and pink sapphires, rubies, amethysts, citrines, green garnets, and black diamonds. It’s mounted in 18K yellow and black gold. There is no maker’s mark and no year, but I thought the creativity of this piece spoke volumes.



Carved wood forms the trunk of this tree, with branches of gold set with yellow and pink-hued diamonds. The leaves are emeralds and pink sapphires. Maker: Nardi. No year, but gorgeous.



This broach has a barrette backing. Its ruby and emerald leaves, outlined by diamonds, overlap. It’s mounted in 18-karat gold and platinum and was made by Van Cleef and Arpels in France in 1969.



This gold, diamond, coral strawberry brooch sit on a branch of textured gold with a flower leaf set with 59 round diamonds. No maker, no year.



The back of this gold, diamond, pearl, and enamel necklace can be detached so the front part can be worn as a tiara. The piece is c. 1850. The center portion is composed of 5 interlocking plaques designed as floral clusters and ribbons with a link of gold scroll links at the back. I fainted when I saw this. I’d wear it all day, never taking it off until I died. :-)



This Renaissance Revival brooch by Carlo Giuliano would also look beautiful as a barrette. Made in 1870, it is a geometric pattern with cushion-shaped diamonds and small pearls anchored by a pearl drop.



This carved lilly of the valley hardstone brooch has pistels of diamonds, leaves of adventuine quartz, and stems bound by a ribbon of diamonds.



And so we’ll end today with the king of beasts. The back of this coral lion with emerald eyes also has a two-prong hairpin form. The lion wears a crown set with diamonds and emeralds and is wearing a diamond necklace. Signed Tiffany & Co, numbered 17710.

Parure Hair Ornaments

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A full parure includes the matching necklace, 2 bracelets, brooch, ring, earrings, and a hair ornament or tiara. Today I have chosen 5 hair ornaments that are part of demi parures, which were worn in the Victorian period.

This coral hair ornament is on a black silk strap, highlighted by a principal carved coral flower framed by two smaller flowers and an assortment of buds and leaves. It was owned by Countess Rosamund Courten and dates c. 1850.



This gold, enamel, seed pearl, and lapis lazuli brooch attaches to a tortoiseshell comb. The lapis lazuli cabochons are embellished with a cannetille decoration. (Cannetille is a wirework decoration which uses coiled and twisted gold wire to achieve a delicate scrolling effect.) c. 1810



This gold hair ornament c. 1830 has a flowerspray design, set throughout with variously cut rock crystals in blue foiled settings. It also attaches to a tortoiseshell comb.



And finally, these two stunning pieces by Carlo Guiliano, a leader of the Revivalist Movement in mid-19th Century jewelry making. Each hair ornament is part of a different parure. c. 1850.

Some Lovely Things on Ebay

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This 18K gold hair comb with a bamboo frame sold Jan 7 on ebay for $1102.77. It was made by Madison Ave. jewelry designer David Webb, who gave the traditional Japanese kushi shape his own unique, original interpretation.





There was also an auction of Japanese combs, some pieces of which had great artistry. Of course, the combs were expensive because it costs a lot to get them, and many didn’t sell.  I made a deal with the seller to buy this ivory kanzashi for $500 in installment payments because when I saw it, I freaked.







This beautiful Taisho kushi did not sell for a starting price of $480. It is tortoiseshell, painted with a greyish-black lacquer, and it has a toy theme. I think the colors and bold design are magnificent on this piece. The artist GYOKUSEI signed his work. Maybe if the kushi were in mint condition, it would have sold. You can never tell, but I remember a similar piece on Trocadero of a Noh mask selling for $1295. It took a year to sell that piece, but maybe it was by the same artist.





This Meiji blonde tortoiseshell kushi has a superb three-diminsional carving of an old traveler saying goodbye to birds dressed in kimonos, as he goes down the road into the mountains. The artist carved his painting on the front and back to give perspective. Again, the condition is not perfect, but the artistry is fabulous. What a unique theme, how elaborately it was expressed. I loved it, but it also did not sell for a starting price of $480.







A seller wanted $5500 for this Russian Imperial tiara brooch/barrette that was advertised as being from Faberge and made for the Czar’s mistress, a Russian prima ballerina, but no one bought it. You may refer to Auction #250200100650.



Finally, this lovely silver comb from the state of Rajasthan in North India, whose top is a receptacle to hold perfumed oil, sold for $152.50 on Dec 30. The cap is graced by two peacocks, who are the Hindu symbol for immortality. You may refer to Auction #290192625758. There is a dealer on Trocadero who is trying to sell a similar piece for $600, so this was a good buy. :-)

Some Lovely Things on Ebay and Beyond

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There have been some lovely things listed recently on Ebay, and one I missed on Ruby Lane (dash!), that I’d like to share this beautiful Christmas Eve. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.

These pink coral cabachons set in silver, marked 800, are highlighted with tiny seed pearls set in the leaves, and hinged onto a horn comb, c. 1880. I love it. It sold to myrnatoo, my nemesis and supposed best friend ;-P, for $245 on Ruby Lane.





This beautifully designed Sterling silver comb featuring a makers mark: Hermann Duhme of Cincinnati, c. 1860, did not sell for an asking price of $399. I couldn’t afford it, but I thought it was lovely. Maybe overpriced, but the dealer might get her wish at another time, or lower the price $100. You may refer to Auction #110206067490.



This silver-plated brass Japanese kanzashi in the form of a bird cage sold for $470.25. It is Meiji, and even has the small bird in the cage. Marvelous detail. You may refer to Auction #140186354336



I am not sure how much this bird gold and silver kanzashi sold for. The seller was kofudo_jp. I didn’t save the auction, bleh, but I loved the very dramatic birdie.



Finally, although I usually do not do celluloid combs, unless they are Bonaz, I liked this one anyway. The shape is very unusual and striking. This celluloid comb made to look like tortoiseshell sold for $102.50 on Nov 26. You may refer to Auction #250189964524.