Comb (Wigmaker's comb)

Description

Using human and horsehair, wigmakers created and dressed a great variety of wigs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This is one of five different types of combs designed for wigs and illustrated in Denis Diderot's Encyclopedie (encyclopedia) published in Paris (1751-76). He characterized this double-sided sheet brass form as an unravelling comb, and like others made from wood or horn, its fine teeth are cut by hand.