Category Archives: Indian Hair Comb

Creative-Museum.com

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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, since it is private. As the owners want to share its resources with everyone, CREATIVE MUSEUM will do its best to offer all the services you could find in a museum: a temporary exhibition with a special theme, a view of the permanent collection, background information and more: expertise.”

Here are a few comparisons and pictures. From the museum:

I believe this is my picture of the same comb in 2004.

Here is a Manchurian hairpin from the collection.

This is my Manchu piece.

And here are just three pictures, which reveal the eye of the collective mastery that brings this project to life. The still-life photography is superb.

An African bird.

A Bonaz Mantilla comb.

A Chinese diadem.

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This comb from the Tlingit tribe of the Pacific Northwest depicts the head, torso and forelegs of a bear. Human faces are carved within the bear’s ears, and a bear cub’s face peaks out between them. There is symmetry between the bear’s teeth, claws, and the comb’s tines. The reverse side features two human feet with cross-hatching on the soles; intriguingly the right foot has six toes. The decorative surround framing the feet may well represent a stylized bear’s den.

Historians are not sure if these combs were used by women or shamans. Others suggest weavers to carded mountain goat wool with them. Whatever the application, this classic evocative carving was old when it was collected in 1867-68, and the comb is attributed to the year 1772. It sold for $37,600.

Maang Tika

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Astonishingly beautiful, Indian brides wear a hair ornament that is like a pendant for the forhead. It is called a maang tika. They’re a longstanding Indian bridal tradition with a storied history in painting and sculpture. Maang tikas have a hook that attaches to your hair so that the maang (string) can rest in the center of your head and dangle the jewelry (tika) onto your forehead. It looks gorgeous, and also carries a great deal of significance in Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional Indian healing practice, which has spread to other parts of the world.

Oriental Carving

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The first two items for today are Chinese hair pins. The first is from my private collection and had been carved from one piece of tortoiseshell, the blonde part representing a bird. I believe the piece to be dated c. 1890.

The second hair pin is coral, Tang Dynasty (618-907), and carved in the form of a phoenix.

Our third item is an Indian ivory comb, made in Sri Lanka in the 18th Century. The woman is dancing to the music of panava instruments, perhaps drums and a flute, with parrots surrounding her. In Indian dancing, each pose conveys an emotional state during storytelling. Although the ivory is discolored, the carving is magnificent. These were luxury combs, which would be included in dowries. Both the phoenix Chinese hair pin and this Indian comb reside in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Some Lovely Things on Ebay

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There have been some really interesting, unusual combs that sold recently. Here is a small sample.

This reproduction of an ancient Indian comb worn by a queen might belong culturally to the Sikh sect of Hinduism, which had a Kanga, a small-toothed comb worn in the hair. This plot depicts Lord Krishna and his beloved Rahda, erotically posed, as girls dance around him. The dance, or sport, is called Raas Leela, where the birth of the Shri Krishna is celebrated by gopis, or devotees who forget all worldly thoughts in place of love for him. It sold for only $32.




The next two things that caught my eye were two silver kanzashis because their designs were so beautifully balanced with flowers, birds, and ideas. These sold for $132.50 and $86 in September.




Third today, is a beautiful Edo kogai stick, with gold maki-e decorations on the ends. But there is a three-dimensional perspective in the way the houses are set amongst the trees, lakes, and flowers in a rural Japanese villiage. It sold for only $31 on Sept. 28.




Now, we’ll go to France, for two celluloid combs decorated with two tones of aluminium, a very valuable material at its time of discovery. They sold for $162. 50 on Oct. 2.




Last is a dark tortoiseshell Victorian pique comb with a raised piece that contains a greek key pattern bookmarked by two stars. I wonder if the pique is machine or hand done. The condition was perfect, but the seller wanted $530 for it, and it did not sell.