A beautifully marked late Victorian Spanish style comb in faux tortoiseshell effect

CONDITION: good vintage condition with expected wear

SIZE: 5¼ x 3½ ins (14 x 9 cm) decorative part 2½ ins (6 cm)

APPROXIMATE DATE: 1890s – 1900s

MATERIALS: celluloid

DESCRIPTION:

Here is a beautifully marked Spanish style hair comb in celluloid faux tortoiseshell. It probably dates from the last few years of the Victorian era. The comb has a high rectangular heading finishing in a rising curve. It is very realistically mottled with “tortoise” random type markings. High topped combs like this were extremely popular in the later Victorian era during the 1870s and 1880s. This was due to the debut of the opera Carmen, which promoted a fashion for Spanish style combs with extremely tall headings.

This type of ornament is often known as Spanish or mantilla comb because it resembles a smaller version of the traditional large shell ornaments worn by Spanish ladies with their native dress. In practice any comb which has a high upstanding heading or top which stands proud of the top of the head is often called a mantilla comb.