‘To say a combe is sufficient, it is a thing by which the haire of the head is layd smooth and straight and kept from growing into Knotts and Arslocks. This is borne by the name of Combe.’
An Academie or Store House of Armory & Blazon by Randle Holme of Chester, pl2.
The Combs
In the second half of the 17th century England extravagant combs became a high fashion item, accompanying the rise in popularity of ever more outrageous wigs. The combs from Jamaica, made as they were from tortoiseshell, were not equipped with the strength needed to cope with any effort more arduous than adjusting the odd curl. If they were used at all it, it would have been as part of a fashionable outfit, and not as a utilitarian object.
Courtesy Private Collection, UK
Courtesy Private Collection, USA
The combs were made of course for the comb cases, but many were made as single items, several extant examples bearing inscribed names. There are minor differences in shape between the first and second period combs, but it is in the engraving where we can see the main difference although by no means as marked as it is for the cases.
The size of combs, as the cases, was determined by the size of the tortoiseshell pieces available to the maker, and they range from a very large 10½” to 4” wide. Several pleasing and unusual shapes of comb were made, including the small straight combs found in caskets and table cabinets.
All images Courtesy Private Collections, UK, Europe & USA