A pair of carved and pierced horn “hair dagger” single pronged hairpins

 

CONDITION: good vintage condition with acceptable wear

 

SIZE:

 

#1 measures 6 x 2½ ins (15 x 6 cm)

 

#2 measures 6 x 2 ins (15 x 5 cm)

 

MATERIALS: steer horn

 

DESCRIPTION:

Here two pretty single pronged hair pins or hair daggers in carved horn with an openwork heading that is decorated in an intricate pierced design. Each has a single long tine to enable it to pierce the hair.

These are an example of the smaller and lighter hair accessories which came into vogue in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Hair combs with a single prong or two tines were worn piercing the high updo with intricate openwork designs which resembled lace.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Simple two pronged combs such as these were made in pairs, or sometimes set with a larger matching comb. They were worn throughout the 19th and early 20th century. They could perform both an ornamental and a useful function, being used to hold the elaborate coiffures of the day in place as well as to adorn the hair.

Hair pins like this are characteristically made in one solid piece of the material, which might be horn, tortoiseshell, metal or some synthetic like celluloid. They usually have only one or two tines and their top or heading in a simple shape such as a horseshoe or rectangle, sometimes with the addition of rhinestones or a little openwork decoration.