Moustache comb
karta katalogowa kolekcji
Rzemiosło artystyczne
France
about 1900
Tortoiseshell
12.2 x 1.2 x 0.2 cm
Wil.5915
A comb for grooming a moustache was only one of the many toiletries used by gentlemen to care for their looks. The convex, more carefully designed side is visible when the comb is held in the left hand; thus, it was also of use while clipping the moustache.
Tortoiseshell is obtained from the carapace – the upper part of the sea turtle shell. The plates comprising it are 2-5 mm thick, semi-translucent and with a warm shade spanning from yellow to brown, and with amber, yellow, brown or red spots.
Various articles were made usually from the shells of green or hawksbill turtles. The best material was obtained from turtles aged at least three years, when the plates are sufficiently thick to be used for production; the shells of older and larger specimen are often too thin. Owing to its high price, tortoise shell is often imitated; during the seventeenth century it was replaced by horns or ivory covered with lacquer, and since the nineteenth century imitations are made of synthetic material.
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