Ah, Art Nouveau

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My first piece today is actually a British arts and crafts piece by Arthur and Georgie Gaskin, c. 1910. The raised silver-foliage design is bookmarked by pearls. Provenance: Arthur & Georgie Gaskin, City Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, 1982, page 87.

This is a spectacular art nouveau diadem of a Byzantine princess. It is French; made of gold, opal, and diamonds; c.1900. Unmarked, it is attributed to Fouquet or Vever.

This is an original Lalique drawing of a comb with two Japanese rhinoceros beetles fighting each other (Thank you to member ch for making this correction). The comb was probably to be made out of horn. Maybe the fighting rhinoceros beetles and their feet, performing the engineering function of holding the chains, would be silver, and the jewels in the dangles would be pearls. What a knockout.

My last piece for this morning is a Lalique pendant, whose centerpiece can easily be taken off and worn in the hair. This piece is so gorgeous, it takes my breath away. The ornament depicts poppies made of glass, enamel, and gold.

Some lovely things at Sothebys

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This is a lovely example of classic style. Hair comb pairs like this were also called opera combs. The crowns of these are openwork plaques set with about 1.50 carats of European-cut and rose-cut diamonds atop tortoise shell combs.

Eighteenth-century India gives us this next tiara in an unusual hinged form. The openwork decoration depicts three lilies surrounded by stems and foliage.

The last tiara is just a knockout. It’s an English turquoise and diamond tiara, c. 1880, and sold for 27,000 GBP. I want this. :-)

Haute Couture: Chaumet

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This year, Chaumet is putting hair necklaces and tiaras on the front line of his collection for the very first time. He wants diamonds to adorn the head like a “reign of gold,” rings to “alight the hair for a new wearing,” and gold lace to “weave in and out of the hair.” I think what he has done is magnificent.

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.

Citrine Tiara Comb

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The French put many dressings on these large brass tiara combs. I have one with opals. Sometimes the tines are bent so the top can be worn as a tiara. Other times, the comb is in its original formation.

This one, c. 1830, has French import marks and two rows of citrines in graduating sizes. The stones are clean, translucent, and well matched in color. The first row of stones is supported by a bridge of brass leaves separated by balls, which attaches to the comb with a floral applique. Its estimated worth is between 3000 and 4000 GBP.

Chinese Hair Ornaments

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China’s Jiangsu Province now has a comb museum. Displaying 300 ancient combs, the museum is located in Changzhou.

The combs of Changzhou fall into two categories: Shue and Bi. Shue combs are made of wood and are practical items with which to comb hair. The Bi is fine-toothed and used to clean the hair of debris. Both combs were made into an art form and were given as gifts of tribute at the Imperial Court.

To celebrate the opening of this museum, I thought I’d do a post on Chinese combs and hair sticks. This is a Changzhou Bi comb. Made of ivory and brass, the artist painted a Chinese scene with perspective and signed the piece.

These are two Chinese hair sticks from the Qing Dynasty (1945-present):

And this is a bridal hair ornament from Kazakstan, an autonomous region of China.

Some Lovely Combs on Ebay

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On Ebay, there are some really nice Japanese sets and stand-alone kushis from the Edo, Meiji, and Taisho eras. Edo’s shape is square, Meiji is round but made of natural materials, and Taisho is round and gets into bold vivid, color. These pieces are in excellent condition. The only problem is the price. I’m not paying $900 for a kushi. Next Life. But enjoy!

Swedish Royal Wedding

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On June 19, 2010, Crown Princess Victoria married her personal trainer, Daniel Westling. She wore the same cameo tiara, her mother wore to her own wedding on the same day in 1976. Cameos adorn the center of a gold and pearl frame. Greek mythological characters Cupid and Psyche grace the center cameo.

Here is her mother Queen Sylvia smiling with true happiness, and of course a drop-dead diamond tiara worn with an pink-topaz necklace, earrings, and pin.

Here, diamond laurel-leaf tiaraed Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium speaks to diamond floral tiaraed Princess Letizia of Spain.

This is a lovely picture of Queen Margaret II of Denmark. It takes tremendous style to pull off a green dress like that, but she does it magnificently. Her pearl and diamond parure does not hurt.

Hair in Stone

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The Greeks did it. Rodin did it. All sculptors made hair out of clay. This particular piece is by Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920), who signed it and pointed out that in the rear of the sculpture, there was limestone. It is 25 1/4 inches high and was made c. 1910. The lady is even wearing a tiara to hold back her hair, parted in the middle. In Christie’s “Art Impressionniste et Moderne” sale this June in Paris, its estimated value is $4,935,457 – $7,403,185.

Some combs I like

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This late-Edo tortoiseshell comb is held in an open silver frame with a silver mount Fuji behind gold and silver birds. The fruit on the tree are pearls. A similar decoration graces the matching kogai stick. It comes in its original box and is selling for $1400 on Trocadero.

I also liked this carved gilt lacquer comb inlaid with mother of pearl flowers and decorated with flying cranes. With matching kogai stick, the set is signed Sho Rin. It is selling for $1200 on Trocadero.

However,I just bought my second Chinese export comb for the Victorian market, c. 1890, because it had a bird on it, and I don’t have a birdie comb. ;-) The price was $355 on ebay.