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.

The Empress Eugenie Tiara

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Napoleon had jeweler Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier (circa 1808-1884) make this piece c. 1850. In the Louis XVI style, a filigree silver-gilt mount is over crusted with 1998 small diamonds. They surround much larger pearls, and give them absolute priority. The largest drop-shaped pearl in the top-most position is believed to be the “Perle Napoleon”

Here is Empress Eugenie wearing it.

More Faberge Brooches for the Hair

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This silver brooch is a character in another Russian fairy tale. A knight tries to find the magic garden, wherein resides the water of life. He flies on winged horses. This horse is made of silver, white, and yellow gold. His wings are jeweled with white, blue, and pink diamonds.

One of the water kings of the Russian fable underworld, this dragon horse uses Faberge’s color palette of jewels: colored diamonds, paraiba tourmalines (they contain a bit of copper, are neon green or blue, and come from Paraiba, Brazil), and Padparadscha sapphires (they are orange).

Brooches for the Hair

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Many times, a brooch had two fittings. One to enable the woman to wear it as a pin, and another to permit the brooch to be worn as a comb. I had a call from Geneva, Switzerland, today offering me access to the modern Faberge jewelry site. Breathtakingly designed brooches, which could easily accompany a bun. I asked the price of the seahorse and was told $250,000. LMAO. A little out of my price range, but gorgeous jewelry is gorgeous jewelry. Enjoy the poetry.

This first image is of the Firebird, an old Russian fairy tale that Stravinsky made into one of the most famous ballets in the repertoire. It has over 100 diamonds, highlighted with sapphires, rubies, amethysts, opals, and moonstones.

The next piece comes from another Russian fairy tale, The Crimson Rose, and is saturated with the finest pink-red rubies, offset with white and yellow diamonds.

Last is a magnificent seahorse, which recalls the Kingdom of the Blue Sea in the Russian Fable of Sadko. It is set with violet sapphires, yellow and violet diamonds, and wrapped in white-diamond seaweed.

Research is fun

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Recently I bought this comb on ebay.

But what was it? I had a similar barrette from the English company who invented silver plate, but was this from the same company? Was it English? I set out on a research-finding tour. Surprise or surprises, the marks on the comb indicated that it was made in the Netherlands for export in 1925. The first picture tells us it’s Dutch. The second picture matches a Q to 1925.

Isn’t research fun? :-)

Two Tiaras

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This agate, cameo, and gold tiara is part of a complete parure, c. 1840. The tiara has a graduated series of five pinkish brown and brownish gray agate cameos, each sculpted in high relief. They depict profiles of various figures. Cameos with different colored accessories are the most valued. These have pinkish brown agate accessories, including feathers, jewelry and wreaths. They reside within a sculpted gold scroll.

Are we really supposed to resist this?

Edwardian, pearl and diamond tiara, c. 1900.

Ann Getty’s Tiara

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This is an important Cartier piece because its design is unique. Made in the 1930s, two posies of leaves, ribbons, and detachable flower heads are worn at each temple. The tiara is connected by a crescent of stones. On top is a panache motif of flowers, ribbons and scrolls. The old European-cut diamonds weigh approximately 175.00 carats. Cartier signed it and made it in London. Its estimated value is $250,000.

Cartier and White Jade

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This tortoise comb from Cartier was made c. 1920. The hinged tiara is a carved coral segment framed in pearls, decorated with 1.15 carats of old European-cut diamonds. It is signed Cartier, Paris, and numbered 0000 and 0288 (maker’s marks). It also has French Assay marks, with an estimated value is $10,000 to $15,000.

This Chinese white-jade comb comes from the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The authenticity of its age can be verified because it is listed in “Jades in the Hei-Chi Collection,” Beijing, 2006, p. 135. Its estimated value is $9000.

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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.