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Source Description

This comb carved from a single piece of wood, possibly Sycamore Fig. There are thirty flat rectangular teeth. The two outermost teeth are slightly wider than the others and are rounded on the outer edges. The comb is rectangular in shape and the upper edge is rounded. It is modestly decorated with three rectangular projections along the top edge and two pairs of straight incised lines located just below the projections and just above the top of the teeth. This type of decoration is typical for simple combs of the 18th Dynasty. Several of the teeth are broken and there are surface stains from water or some other liquid. The multitude of scratches on the surface of the wood suggest that the object was actually used during the life of its owner. Combs like this were probably used for one's natural hair, rather than for the elaborate wigs of the New Kingdom that required special instruments.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
1724
label
Comb
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
1724
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Comb
description
This comb carved from a single piece of wood, possibly Sycamore Fig. There are thirty flat rectangular teeth. The two outermost teeth are slightly wider than the others and are rounded on the outer edges. The comb is rectangular in shape and the upper edge is rounded. It is modestly decorated with three rectangular projections along the top edge and two pairs of straight incised lines located just below the projections and just above the top of the teeth. This type of decoration is typical for simple combs of the 18th Dynasty. Several of the teeth are broken and there are surface stains from water or some other liquid. The multitude of scratches on the surface of the wood suggest that the object was actually used during the life of its owner. Combs like this were probably used for one's natural hair, rather than for the elaborate wigs of the New Kingdom that required special instruments.
provenance
Private collection; Walters Art Museum, 1960, by gift.
date
1550-1307 BCE (New Kingdom)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Wood
combs
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
H: 3 in. (7.6 cm)
Source extras
cul
Egyptian
dynasty
18th Dynasty
med
wood
creator_ids
6182
collection_ids
EGY
exhibition_ids
2507
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
99c9a1a8e64f4b01