Comb with Figures at a Fountain and a Female Figure Rewarding Knights, carved elephant ivory, Italy, ca. 1360-80

On one face of the comb four male and female figures approach a fountain from opposite sides. On the other face a standing crowned female figure at the centre holds a pennon in each hand, with a kneeling bearded knight in armour and with shield on each side. Behind the knights on each side are a further three figures, a couple and a single male at the edges.

The comb is in generally good condition, although one of the larger teeth at the bottom has been replaced. On the side with the crowned lady there is a natural flaw in the ivory at the bottom left. There are substantial remains of red and green paint, especially on the fountain, and the number 1034 has been written in ink (now faded) on the plain section at the upper left of the fountain side. The background is very thin on the left side of this face, resulting in several areas being pierced with small holes; and a hole has been drilled between the border and the furthermost figure on the left, perhaps so that the comb could be suspended from a cord.

In the collection of John Charles Robinson (1824-1913), London; purchased from Robinson in 1879.

The scene of figures around a fountain is depicted on another Italian comb of the same date, now in Liverpool. Although it has been described as the Fountain of Youth, this seems unlikely for both the Liverpool and the V&A combs, as the Fountain of Youth is invariably larger and has people bathing in it, being transformed from the aged to the youthful (Williamson 2014, pp. 618-19).

The subject matter of the other side is also seen on several other Italian combs, including examples in Baltimore, New York, Paris, St Petersburg and Vienna, but in all these cases the crowned female figure is shown enthroned rather than standing and some show her holding the knights' helmets rather than pennons. It has been proposed that this figure represents Frau Minne or Lady Love (Randall 1985, p. 232), but the identification is not certain and Frau Minne is more normally shown with the arrows of love in her hands or in the act of piercing hearts. Perhaps the figure should instead be interpreted as a Virtue, i.e. Fortitude, rewarding the knights' gallant endeavours, and it has therefore been suggested that these combs may have been made for men rather than women (Williamson 2014, p. 619).

Stylistically, the comb has been linked to a comb at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello (mus. no 140 Carrand; see Chiesi in Ciseri 2018), and to another one in the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica in Turin (mus. no 150/AV, see Tomasi in Castronovo et al. 2016); and scholars tend to now date the group to the years 1360-80. While a place of production in Venice for these objects cannot be excluded, a workshop in Lombardy is equally possible.

Since Antiquity, the comb has been a fundamental tool for personal grooming, used both by men and women. Before the thirteenth century, combs for private - rather than ecclesiastical - use were invariably plain, and carved ivory was almost exclusively used for liturgical combs, some of which were embellished with narrative scenes.

In the Gothic period, however, ivory was often employed for the production of deluxe decorated combs. These were often sold together with mirror backs and gravoirs and presented in leather cases. The Gothic comb is always carved on both faces and consists of two registers of teeth, one fine, the other broader, above and below the narrative strips. There appears to have been no hard-and-fast rule about the relative positions of the different rows of teeth; the fine teeth are sometimes on the top, sometimes on the bottom of the comb. The carved scenes between the two sets of teeth were recessed in a horizontal band, and in the later examples foliate designs filled the side panels. There are surprisingly few combs of this period and place, perhaps because combs were more vulnerable to breakage and disposal than for example mirror backs.

Most of the existing pieces from 1300-1550 are in excellent condition, suggesting that they owe their survival to being kept in their cases or put aside. They may have been presented as gifts but seem not to have been used, perhaps being considered by the recipients as too precious to put at risk. The number of surviving combs increases after the end of the fourteenth century, and of these later pieces many are Italian or Netherlandish rather than French. As with mirror backs, most of the scenes found on the combs are connected with romance and courtship. Hardly surprisingly, the subject matter often celebrates the power of beauty and its transforming effect (Williamson and Davies 2014, p. 609).

This carved ivory comb shows four male and female figures at a fountain on one side, and on the other a standing crowned female figure among knights and couples. It was made in the second half of the fourteenth century in Italy, either in Venice or in Lombardy.

Since antiquity, the comb has been a fundamental tool for personal grooming for both men and women. In the Gothic period, ivory was often used for the production of luxuriously decorated combs thought to have been given as gifts. These are always carved on both faces and consist of two registers of teeth, one fine and the other broader, with carved strips in the centre.

151-1879