Vedanshi joshi- HOD- COMB

EVOLUTION OF COMB 

                        'My own comb'

  The history or use of hair combs dates as 5,000 years ago! Combs are actually among the oldest tools found by archaeologists. As early as 5500 B.C. the ancient Egyptians carved out combs among other remnants of the emerging cultures. Similarly in China, combs were worn as hair accessories that reflected one’s social status. However, historians have no way to know who the inventor of the first comb was. Archaeologists have found combs in settlements from 5,000 years ago in Persia. Hair combs are used by humans to separate tangled hairs, to keep their hair clean and to style their hair. They are also used as a decoration for hair.

Apart from using combs to part hair for coloring, conditioning and braiding, people especially in early times have also worn combs as decorative hair accessories that hold hair in a specific style. During the 1930s and 1940s, when hair updos were in the fashion, the decorative hair comb became a popular accessory.

The need or idea to invent combs, certainly, would have arisen from the need to keep the hair in order, neat, and with a tidy appearance, and in few cases with the intention of keeping the head free of lice and other parasites. The various designs and shapes of combs, from rudimentary prehistoric combs to the elaborated designs of middle Ages and further centuries, are testimonials of how people concerned about hair styles' appearance.

Hair Combs were initially made of stone, wood, or ivory from elephant tusks, but are now made almost exclusively from metal or plastic. However, combs made from wood are fast becoming popular again for the numerous benefits associated. You can view images of ancient to modern combs over here.Hair has its origins in the common ancestor of mammals, the synapsids, about 300 million years ago. It is currently unknown at what stage the synapsids acquired mammalian characteristics such as body hair and mammary glands, as the fossils only rarely provide direct evidence for soft tissues.

                   'Tortoiseshell comb'

For most of history, combs were made of almost any material humans had at hand, including bone, tortoiseshell, ivory, rubber, iron, tin, gold, silver, lead, reeds, wood, glass.

                          'Silver comb'

HISTORY OF COMBS IN CHINA 

Shubi also called as zhi is a generic term used for Chinese combs in china, which includes thick-teeth comb shu  and thin-teeth comb bi Shubi originated about 6000 years ago in China during the late Neolithic period Some Chinese combs dating from the Shang dynasty were found in the Tomb of Fuhao In ancient China,Chinese combs had a high special status, a high artistic value, was an important form of hair ornament in Chinese history. Chinese comb also had and continues to hold unique cultural meaning and emotional value.Chinese combs in China were not used only for grooming purposes, they were also used holding and decorating hair. Both Chinese men and women wore decorative combs in their hair in ancient China.Chinese women often wore combs and fine-tooth combs in their hair buns. Chinese comb-making was also an important form of traditional Chinese art business industry.

             'Traditional Chinese comb'

HISTORY OF COMBS IN INDIA 

On a casual stroll along the meandering markets of the Pushkar fair, as spectacles of mystery unfold and as strong local flavors swell within the atmosphere of the fair, it is hard to miss the visual delight oozing out of curious little wooden combs, even as you get lost in the euphoria of the festivities around Natively called Kangsi, the craft of making wooden combs is a few hundred-year-old tradition, that is practiced only by a minority today. The array of wooden combs decorated with intriguing carving, jail work, inlay and gold & silver ornamentation is indeed a treat to the curious eyes. But for Chotamal Banjara it is a way of life. A conversation with the craftsman amidst the pandemonium of the fair gives riveting insights about the history and idea of the wooden comb.

The hair has always been an innate asset for human kind through ages. As texts in Kalidasa suggest, men have traditionally maintained longer tresses which they tied using a hair band. The women on the other hand had their long oiled, perfumed and braided hair, decked up with flowers, pearls and gems. Bathed in the fragrance of sandal and aguru, hair were knit into one mass and place on the crown of the head.

                         'wooden comb'

The most primitive folk of  the Banjara and Gawariya communitiesm of Rajasthan were commissioned for trade of coconut and dates with buyers based in Jaipur. According to a popular fable, the head of the community martyred to the cause of saving the modesty of the womenfolk of his tribe from the invading Mughals during a ceratin local war. In absence of their chieftain the entire community broke down into smaller groups that eventually drifted away and found their own vocation. Today, two of these groups, originally from the same family pursue the art of making comb . One of the two is based in Delhi and crafts combs out ofanimal bones of buffalos and camels, and the other is that of Chotamal Banjara that crafts combs out of wood. The family spends about four months in their own village creating combs and trading them with the localites. The remaining eight months are spent touring cities of Rathlam, Ujjain, Devaas, Bhilwara in search of patrons.In ancient India, women applied a mixture of Multani mitti (Fuller’s Earth) and Kali Mitti on their hair for nurturing their mane. A wooden comb was always used to massage the hair along with sesame seed oil.

 This combination, the localites believed could initiate hair growth. Grooming with the wooden comb is also believed to ease labor pains amongst pregnant women. Another enthralling native narrative suggests that women who carried cakes of dry cow dung on their heads over long distances were often troubled by problems of ticks and lice in the hair. The fine bristles of the comb were vital in driving them away.

COMBS IN 1500s

This birch wood comb, made in the 1400s, is carved from one piece of wood. It has relief and incised decoration and may once have been highly polished and painted. It is double-sided, with coarse teeth on one side and fine teeth, probably for removing nits, on the other.

Both sides of the comb are decorated with carvings of hearts and letters. One side reads ‘r o’ and the other reads either ‘n o’ or ‘m o’. The comb may have been a love token. In the medieval period the heart was a romantic symbol, and the letters may represent the initials of the couple. Combs were common gifts from husbands to wives at the time of their marriages, and hair was a symbol of beauty and sexuality. During a mother’s time in the birth chamber, to which only women had access, it may have served to remind her of her husband.

                  Wooden old comb 

COMBS IN 1800s

In the Eighteenth Century, combs had the basic function of keeping hair tidy and ordered. However, they were also a vital tool in the creation of the elaborate hairstyles and wigs popular during that period. Therefore, combs can provide an interesting insight into Eighteenth Century fashions and standards of beauty.

Decorative hair combs date to the earliest of times and were created from all sorts of materials. For instance, ancient combs were made from wood, bones, ivory, feathers, and other natural type materials. Sometimes they were “studded” with gems or painted with designs. These early decorative hair combs were also often flat in construction but over time they evolved into curved pieces to better fit the shape of woman’s head.

Around the early 1800s decorative hair combs began to be fashionable and there began to be numerous patents for them. Combs at this time were created from a variety of materials such as horns, shells, ivory, bones, wood, metal, tortoiseshell, and the hoofs of cattle or horses. Because of the popularity of hair combs between the 1890s and early 1900s materials used for to create them increased so that not only were the items already mentioned used to produce them but also “precious metals, pewter, aluminum, brass, … amber, coral.

At the beginning of the 1800s decorative hair combs were usually handcrafted and inexpensive. However, as the century progressed, they began to be produced by small local manufacturers so that by the mid-century they were being produced in great numbers with mechanical die-stamping. The mechanical produced combs were then polished and finished with tortoiseshell patterns by the families of comb makers who worked in the cottage industry in the U.K.

Early nineteenth century designs for hair combs were not necessarily creative works of art. Pieces were often plain and narrow on top. However, as the century advanced, decorative hair combs became fancier and costlier. For example, according to the Encyclopedia of Hair by Victoria Sherrow.

Although Lalique may have used a variety of materials in his decorative hair combs, tortoiseshell was a common material used. In fact, Godey’s Lady Book, an American women’s magazine published from 1830 to 1878, reported in December 1840 on the popularity of tortoiseshell combs.

“This is an old fashion [style] revived, and one that promises to become very general. We mean the combs with very high galleries or heads, which were so much in vogue in the time our grandmammas; they are of the same form as those employed at the court of Napoleon in its early days; they were then ornamented with precious stones of all kinds; those now coming into use are set with gold, cameos, or coral, and the last appears decidedly most in favor.

Tortoiseshell remained a popular material until it began to be scarce. It was then replaced by gutta-percha, a sap obtained primarily from the Palaquium gutta trees found in Malaysia and scientifically classified in 1843. A year or so after Madame tussads death in April 1850, gutta-percha began being imported to Britain where it was used for many domestic and industrial purposes. Among the things it was used for was insulation for underwater telegraph cables and furniture made by the Gutta Percha Company, which resulted in gutta percha becoming a household word.

HOW I WOULD DESIGN A COMB 

In perspective I would make a comb both comfortable n easy to use, its should look more appealing as it is a beauty product and something we ll use Daily. Its should even have some benefits like it should massage our scalp n increase blood circulation.

SCORCES 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://www.geriwalton.com/decorative-hair-combs-of-the-19th-century/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shubi_(comb)#:~:text=Shubi%20originated%20about%206000%20years,hair%20ornament%20in%20Chinese%20history.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45175

Google images 

THANK YOU 

VEDANSHI JOSHI 

IDNUGE00173 

ROLL NO 22BDC049