Kanzashi as Deadly Weapons

2 Replies

Brass- or gold-plated metal kanzashi began to be made in the latter part of the Edo era, when hair styles became more complicated. Hair ornaments revealed a woman’s class, marital status, age, and if she had any children.

A woman could also use her kanzashi as a deadly weapon. Female ninja, or kunoichi, practiced ninjutsu, the martial art of guerrilla warfare. They used their kanzashi to rake the eyes of their victims while escaping. Or, they dipped them in poison to assassinate people. Fending off male attackers was another convenient function.

This gold-plated skull kanzashi subtly illustrates beauty’s deadly side. It currently resides in the Daruma Museum

Creative Museum: Ivory Comb from Dieppe, France

Leave a reply

by the Creative Museum:

From the Fourteenth Century, Dieppe sailors docked their boats on the coast of Guinea to collect ivory. Instead of selling their precious raw material to Paris workshops, they learned to carve great works of art themselves and kept the profit.

The bindweed flowers carved onto this ivory diadem are hinged to a tortoiseshell comb. It was probably made in Dieppe, France, c. 1850 – 1870.

Sterling Silver Ashanti Comb

2 Replies

A friend pointed this out to me from E-Bay France. It is a masterpiece, and the way-too-expensive 850-euro price tag reflects it. There were only three copies made in the Nefertiti Gallery, located in the Dakar Region of Senegal. One is owned by the President; the second was offered to the wife of a European head of state; and the third, which is for sale, belongs to the gallery owner. Each comb was hand made by the Nefertiti Gallery’s jewelers.

Tokugawa Shogunate Tortoiseshell Wedding Set

2 Replies

I have never seen a real tortoiseshell Japanese wedding set for sale. This one is not only the real thing, it comes in its original box, which has a family crest of three ivy leaves. This symbol was used on samurai flags and became popular after the 8th shogun of the Tokugawa family, who ruled the Edo era. Their trade policies isolated Japan and its art from the world. Earlier Tokugawa family crests used maple leaves. I am sure the price on this is high, but if you can afford it, I’d call this a buy. In this post I am including another hair comb with the maple-leaf logo of the Shogunate, which also sold on Trocadero.

To compare the logo on the box to the family crest on a hair comb:

Blessed be the Genius…

Leave a reply

Lalique’s cattleya orchid is made of ivory, gold, enamel, horn, and diamonds, c. 1903-1904, and resides in the Cleveland Museum of Art. However, the view we usually see of it does not reveal its secret: what René was really thinking when he made it. Last night, I found the truth. Blessed be the genius who loves a woman’s body with his flowers.

Les Peignes Art Nouveau

1 Reply

Par le Musée Creative

L’Art nouveau est un mouvement artistique qui naît en Europe à la fin du XIXe siècle et rencontre un succès immédiat. Il se développe même internationalement et prend des noms différents selon les pays qui l’adoptent: Tiffany aux Etats-Unis, Skonvirke au Danemark, Stile Liberty en Italie, etc…Le terme français « Art nouveau » s’est imposé en France et même en Grande-Bretagne.

Ce style s’appuie essentiellement sur l’esthétique des lignes courbes. Ses thèmes de prédilection sont la nature, la femme et la mythologie. De grands artistes comme René Lalique ou Lucien Gaillard ont créé des ornements de coiffures somptueux, très recherchés aujourd’hui. Plus modestement, de nombreux artisans français se sont inspirés de leurs créations et ont façonné des peignes ou des épingles au design très poétique. L’ornement de coiffure Art Nouveau français est le plus souvent en corne claire que l’on peint pour imiter la nature. Il est parfois embelli de pierres, de perles ou de métal précieux comme l’or ou l’argent.

Creative Museum possède une collection exceptionnelle d’ornements de coiffure Art Nouveau. Pour ceux qui veulent en savoir plus, ne manquez pas en septembre prochain, notre prochaine exposition qui sera entièrement consacrée à ce style. Voici quelques pièces à admirer en avant-première.

(You may read the English translation in the first comment.)

French painted horn comb with a cicada

French horn comb, ginko pattern. Silver, rhinestones, green cabochon

French horn comb with silver female profile

French hair slide, painted horn, flower design

Copyright: www.creative-museum.com

Chinese Comb of Gods

Leave a reply

By The Creative Museum:

This impressive ivory comb features the eight Chinese Gods from the Dao Temple, home of Taoism. The artist portrayed the immortals crossing the sea. Respectively, they represent incarnations of the Chinese people: male, female, old, young, rich, noble, poor, and humble. Zhang Guolao’s drum can augur life. Lu Dongbin’s sword can subdue evil. Han Xingzi’s flute can cause growth. He Xiangu’s Water Lily can cultivate people through meditation. Tie Guaili’s gourd can help the needy and relieve the distressed. Zhong Liquan’s fan can bring the dead back to life. Cao Guojiu’s jade board can purify the environment. Lan Caihe’s basket of flowers can communicate with gods. All of this wisdom was carved into a comb made for export to the Victorian market, c. 1890.

The Innovation of Josephine

Leave a reply

As Napoleon’s passionate love, Josephine, kneels before him at his coronation, she introduced two enduring jewelry designs: a woman’s laurel-leaf tiara and a comb with round stones on a stem, forever to be known as the Peigne Josephine. She is wearing the comb in the middle of her head to secure a braid. Napoleon’s laurel-leaf crown imitated Ceasar’s. But Jacques Louis David’s landmark 1804 painting allows us to contemplate Josephine as one of the great jewelry innovators of her time.

Some Early Edo Masterpieces

Leave a reply

The Tokugawa Shogunate ruled Japan from 1637 to 1867. They closed the country to foreigners, and Japanese decorative arts remained a mystery to the Western World. Although porcelain continued to be exported, Japan did not come out of seclusion until the Meiji Era began in 1868. In the Paris Exposition of 1872, Western artists first saw early Edo combs. Japonisme began. Here are three early Edo masterpieces Paris artists might have seen. The style and shape of these combs gives the artist a large canvas, on which they paint one idea.

I believe this is a painted tortoiseshell comb of a tree branch extending over a lake. Insects are flying about. Where the artist reveals the tortoiseshell adds shadows to the insects. The fish painted on the tines represent the fish underneath the lake. Look at the shading blend from top to bottom. This is a masterpiece.

Edo artists painted on glass, too.

Diamond and Aquamarine Tiara

Leave a reply

Topped by a pear-shaped aquamarine, this tiara was owned by Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley. She was born Olga Karnovitsch on Dec. 2, 1865, married Erich Gerhard von Pistohlkors in 1884, had an affair with Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, married him without the Tsar’s approval, but then got his blessing and became a Princess. After her husband and son were killed by the Bolsheviks in 1920, she fled to Finland with her two daughters. She died in Paris on November 2, 1929. Being a woman, no matter what happened to her, she kept the tiara. It is signed Cartier Paris, Londres, New York, was made c. 1912, and sold for $76,000 at Sotheby’s on May 12, 2009.