A revival tiara with three enamel portraits of 15th-century women, hinged to a faux tortoiseshell comb sold for $496 on July 1. The portraits were framed in silver in the middle of a highly ornamented silver tiara with paste red and blue stones. It was a beautiful Victorian Renaissance Revival piece, c. 1870.



There is also a 14K gold eagle, signed P Brandt, hinged to a three-pronged tortoiseshell hair pin in its original box.

On July 16, Sotheby's is auctioning this jaw-dropping Victorian hair comb, c.1895. The top is hinged onto a tortoiseshell comb. In the center is an opal, surrounded by stylized roses and leaves in plique-à-jour polychrome enamel. It's estimated value is 3,000 - 5,000 UKP.

If anyone wants to see my honeymoon pictures and travels to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Salt Lake City, the Bellagio in Las Vegas, etc, I finally edited them and put them up. You are welcome to view them HERE. Have fun! More hair comb posts on the way. Cheers, peeps.

He changed the imagination of the world for all time. Here are an orchid, and something I've never seen before: hair sticks with a bouquet of coral flowers on top, very geisha, very Japonisme. The cattleya orchid is made of ivory, gold, enamel, horn, and diamonds and resides in the Cleveland Museum of Art, c.1903-1904. The coral flowers grace the MuseeD'Orsay in Paris, c. 1902.

This is a replica of a comb, which Auguste Bonaz made for the Algiers Exposition in commemoration of the centenary of Algeria in 1930. The original was celluloid, and he chose the Spanish Mantilla style in his design.

I FINALLY figured out what was wrong with my server (aka my friend Josh spent 5 minutes on his webex conferencing where he could share my desktop and solved it, that's why he makes $300,000 a year and I'm a schmuck ;-P).

Anyway, what's most important -- WE'RE BACK! One of the things I saw on my honeymoon was the diamond exhibit at the Houston Museum of Science. One diamond tiara worn over a tight top bun by Selma Hayek to a White House dinner and a Cartier diamond barrette survived to become web pictures, so here they are. Enjoy! And, it's great to be back. :-)

Hi Peeps,

I ordered a business modem with a static ip, which is scheduled to be installed June 17. When that's up and running, my pictures will be back, and the blog goes on! ;-P I just saw the diamond exhibit at the Houston Museum of Science, and there was a hair ornament made of an enamel bouquet of flowers and eggs on 18K yellow gold, which belonged to Catherine the Great. I just about died. Of course, no book of the exhibit. No cell phone pics allowed. Extremely frustrating. Must research books to see if I can find a picture of it. Here's to my server finally being up in mid-June!

Love to all,

Barbara

Well, happy easter to me I guess, but I am moving to Laredo, TX, on Sunday. I will marry a rabbi in May and honeymoon in June. So during this moving time, until I get my server up again, the pictures will be down again. Ah, the joys of having your own server. However, most hosting services charge for bandwith, and doing it yourself means a lot of freedom. At any rate, I'll see everyone on the other side! If anyone does have problems seeing pictures when I do my next comb blog post, you are welcome to let me know in the comments.

Best,

Barbara

This comb, called Marbella, has two interlocking intricate pieces, one white, one black. Each is decorated asymetrically with rhinestone-encrusted flowers. Ateliers in Paris only made 4 of them. This is a magnificent piece of modern art.



Similarly, this camelia barrette with leaves that look spontaneously placed decorating a plethora of crystals, is also a rare piece.

Henry Wilson (1864-1934) made this crystal & chalcedony tiara with wings of gold on either side, and Cupid in the centre. The tiara is c.1908 and resides in the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was a leading figure in the British Arts and Crafts movement and was described as the "arch individualist." His authored ‘Silver work & Jewellery,’ which was published in 1903.