This barrette sports mottled blue and green enamel on a silver backing, with two pearls. Britain, c. 1900. It is in the 1200 to 2500 UKP price range at The Tadema Gallery in London.
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Lalique introduced horn into the jewelry repertoire. In this tiara, c. 1902, the iridescent horn has different hues, lighter in the center, darker on the sides. The flowers have diamond centers. A gold hinge attaches the tiara to a three-pronged tortoiseshell comb.
Lalique uses a curved horn base to showcase flowers cast in glass with fire-opal centers. The tiara resides in the Victoria and Albert Museum and was made c. 1903-4.
This orchid was made by Lalique’s Belgian contemporary Philippe Wolfers. He chose gold, enamel, diamonds, and rubies, as opposed to Lalique’s orchids, which are made of horn and ivory. The Victoria and Albert Museum also owns this piece, c. 1905-7.
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Although the silver mines of Taxco are the most famous region for Mexican jewelry, illustrations of modern life were also inked on horn combs.
This piece was made in the 1970’s. Mairin Bulldozer Connor identified the bird as a Tricolored Heron catching a bass on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. What I love about it is that both predator and prey express emotion. From The Creative Museum:
From real life
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For more scholarly research, please examine
A Bird Finding Guide to Mexico
William Spratling and the Mexican Silver Renaissance: Maestros de Plata
Mexican Silver: Modern Handwrought Jewelry & Metalwork (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
When a new bishop was consecrated in Medieval Europe, ceremony required several rituals be performed before he stepped onto the altar. He wore sandals, sat on a throne, covered his shoulders with an amice, and purified his hair. Ivory combs decorated with Biblical scenes were made specifically for this purpose.
This comb portrays the Torah portion where King David seduces Bathsheba. It was made in the 16th Century and resides in the Musée du Louvre.
The Creative Museum has this ivory comb, where two angels hold the bishop’s monogram securely on a pedestal.
Made in the 9th Century AD, this comb depicts Samson taming the lion and also resides in the Musée du Louvre.
The Latin inscription on the edge says, “This comb was sent by Queen Bertha to Pope Gregory.” Queen Bertha converted her husband King Ethelbert, thereby bringing Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. Although the historical event occurred c. 590 AD, the comb was made in the second half of the 12th century and resides in London’s British Museum.
This Northern Italian 15th-Century comb depicts the Adoration of the Magi (also known as the Three Kings) and can be seen in the Musée du Louvre.
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This comb sold at Sotheby’s for $20,000 on April 20, 2010. I believe Japanese ideas influenced Cartier’s Parisian jewelers in 1920, just as they influenced French artists during Japonisme (1867-1905).
The Japanese intricately carved chrysanthemums on coral kanzashi. It seems Cartier took this idea, fit the coral carvings into an English-style tiara, and hinged it on a tortoiseshell comb. The mums also have diamond centers and are bordered with pearls.
To compare and contrast, here is the Cartier comb and a Japanese coral kanzashi.
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By Miriam Slater:
The designs in most Japanese kanzashi most commonly are drawn from nature, such as animals ( tortoise, cranes and fish), plants (bamboo, flowers and pine trees) or landscapes (harbors, waves and mountains). Much harder to find are kanzashi in which people are depicted. The inclusion of human beings (to me at least) gives the piece a more personal touch and demands more from an artist because people are complex to render, as can be seen in the elaborate silver piece depicting a man seated on a lotus leaf. For this reason and the fact that they are so rare, hair ornaments which depict people are considered very collectable. Shown here are a few pieces from my collection except the comb depicting the man and monkey which is from the Okasaki collection.
These Manchu pieces sold at 515 and 641 UKP, with 35 and 26 bids, respectively. Look at the complexity of these designs! They have rubies, yellow and green jade, coral, pearls, kingfisher feathers, and correct backing to solidify them as original royal ornaments.
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I call this comb, “Walk Like an Egyptian,” after The Bangles song. It sold for $411.66 on July 24, 2011.
The comb is a unique 1920’s Art Deco Egyptian Revival piece. The artist painted an Egyptian figure in a papyrus motif on celluloid. He is wearing a necklace and two matching bracelets. Rhinestones edge the flowers and dot the triangular decorative bar underneath.
This is a Maltese Falcon. Congratulations to the winner. I think I know whose snipe bid came in second. Siento tu corazón roto, pobrecita mia.
Another lovely French ivory comb with a hand-enameled deep turquoise design, punctuated with black and white rhinestones, sold for $212.50 on August 13.
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The tiara sold on May 17, 2011, for 11,282,500.00 Swiss Francs, or in today’s currency markets, $14,511,254.51. David Bennett, Sotheby’s Chairman of European and Middle Eastern Jewellery, details the provenance in a video. The emeralds were mined in 16th-Century Columbia and polished in Maharaja style. Contrasted with pale yellow diamonds, they are breathtaking.
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The Belle Epoque of French Jewellery, 1850-1910: Jewellery Making in Paris, 1850-1910
The Creative Museum photographed an ivory comb I sold to them and found a ghost spirit I never knew was there. Metamorphosis. Art Nouveau’s icon emerged from its chrysalis. I’m speechless. As I was looking at real butterflies, the black lines in between sections of their orange wings reminded me of leaded glass lamps.
Dare we think — Resting,
Louis Comfort Tiffany
had epiphany?
Photo credit: Joel Olliveaud.
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For more scholarly research, please examine
Chinese and Japanese Hair Ornaments, a publication by The Creative Museum, which can be purchased via paypal.