Edwardian Paste Hinged Hair Comb
Description
item es7
price £135
circa 1900/10
This is a gorgeous hair comb with a paste set hinged decoration. The three pronged comb is made of celluloid, made to resemble tortoiseshell. Celluloid was used to create inexpensive jewellery, hair accessories and many other items, which would previously have been made from ivory, horn or other expensive animal products. It’s main disadvantage was that the material was/is fragile, as a result pieces made from Celluloid are highly collectible and increasingly rare. The pastes stones have been claw set in, what was originally, a silver tone metal (it has darkened with age), it is hinged so that it will “flip” over and rest on top, rather than nestled in the hair. The comb measures 7.2x2.6cm, the decoration measures 4.9x2.5cm. Although this piece is in wonderful vintage condition I would point out that the stones are not as bright as they once were,, and that there is one that is darker than the others, but it still has plenty of sparkle.