Hair Combs of the Art Deco Period : part 1 (Transition)
Origins and Influences of Art Deco.
This series of guides will deal with decorative hair combs of the Art Deco period which spans the years from approximately 1910 to 1940.
These ornaments are some of the most spectacular and beautiful that collectors will come across. They range from huge lacy mantilla style combs, which were popular early in the period, to the pretty little rhinestone comb clips and barrettes of the late 1930s. These latter are still very wearable with today?? fashions for smart dressy occasions such as proms and parties.
This first guide traces the origins of the Art Deco style and its evolution from the previous design movement, known as Art Nouveau.
How Art Deco Got Its Name
An essentially decorative style of the years following the First World War, Art Deco reached its peak in 1925 at the Exposition des Art Decoratifs et Industrielles Modernes in Paris, from which the name is derived.
In popular imagination, Art Deco belongs to a world of luxury and decadence, the golden age of the 1920s and 1930s. The very term conjures up a multitude of romantic images; huge ocean liners gliding effortlessly across moonlit seas and the sound of clinking cocktail glasses. Yet despite this emphasis on luxury, Art Deco emerged in an era of economic slumps, industrial depressions and social strife. It was against this troubled and traumatic background that Art Deco evolved.
Art Deco was essentially an eclectic style. A diversity of historic and cultural sources contributed to its unique identity. It also employed the latest industrial materials and techniques combined with new materials. It was this fusion of luxury and modernity that gave Art Deco its unique character. Ultimately it was a style of fantasy, as escapist as any of the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s which were so influential in its development in the USA. Its legacy, however, is one of great beauty, craft and imagination in some of the most spectacular artefacts of adornment that have come down to us from that era.
The transitional years.
The years 1900-20 were a period of transitional between two major stylistic movements; Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Art Nouveau lasted from approximately 1895 to 1910. It began in the late 19th century as a reaction against the great quantities of jewellery and personal items which were being stamped out by machine. Early Art Nouveau jewellery and hair ornaments were hand made by artist-craftspeople. However as the taste for these designs percolated down the social strata a range of mass produced ornaments appeared. These were manufactured in celluloid and other synthetics, although many of these were hand finished and tinted.
As a design genre, Art Nouveau is characterised by the use of various naturalistic motifs, such as flora and fauna, or by free flowing lines and organic shapes, often combined into an asymmetric design. Art Deco borrowed extensively from Art Nouveau in its highly stylised and graceful motifs. However, Art Deco took the free-flowing curves and naturalistic motifs and replaced them with more geometric and symmetrical themes which began to emerge about 1910. We find then the existence of a so called transitional style where the curvilinear designs of Art Nouveau and often combined with more geometric and formalised motifs. Some of the most beautiful and sympathetic treatments of the transitional style appear in combs, hairpins and barrettes of this period.
Art Nouveau and nature.
We can see this fusion of styles in Picture 1 which is a very beautiful example in the material known as French ivory or Ivorene. This was introduced as a substitute for genuine elephant ivory which was becoming rare and expensive. This lovely hair comb has a wedge shaped heading in which two openwork panels feature fruits and leaves. Despite being essentially machine made, the elements have then been hand carved and tinted. In this transitional ornament naturalism in the representation of flowers and leaves is replaced by stylisation and formalism. Although elements like interlaced lines and natural elements persist there is a stiffness and artificiality about the form of the general design which is leading inexorably towards the formalised geometry of Art Deco.
1: Hand tinted transitional design with fruits.
Picture 2 is another French ivory hair comb this time featuring the theme of mistletoe.
In the same tradition of flora and fauna is illustration 3, which features oak leaves.
This very beautiful transitional comb, although pressed out by machinery, shows elements of hand finishing. It is translucent and when held up to the light shows a beautiful shade of teal green, combined with touches of brown and orange.
Picture 4 is another handsome ‘flora and fauna’ comb, depicting the clover plant.
Once again we can see how techniques of hand finishing and embellishment have contributed to the effect of this lovely comb. This one employs a technique called pique, whereby small dots of gold tone metal are fused by heat into the surface of the material. Pique, or to give it its full name, pique d’or, is a traditional technique for decoration of Victorian tortoiseshell hair combs and small vanity items. However, after the use of genuine shell had given place to faux tortoiseshell celluloid, the technique continued to be employed in the early 20th century.
The peacock was a design motif much beloved of Art Nouveau designers,
along with other winged creatures such as swallows, butterflies and
dragonflies. Turning now from plants and flowers to more animated life forms, we find these used to great effect in comb designs of the transitional period. An interesting example is shown in picture 5.
5: Black celluloid comb with butterflies.
This is a mass produced ornament without any degree of hand finishing. Still we can see how charming is the effect of the distinctive butterfly shapes when the comb is held up to the light. It is possible that being of unadorned black this comb was used for mourning. However it was more likely simply a pretty and fashionable accessory.