kushi (comb)

kushi (comb) , 1800s, Edo period (1600–1868) or Meiji period (1868–1912)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: lacquer; ivory

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 1928.0199

Not on display

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Forms found in nature—a branch with curling leaves and flowers—decorate this kushi (comb). Japanese women commonly wore ornamental combs, like this one, in their hair during the Edo period (1600–1868). Developed in workshops, artists generally produced these accessories in ivory, wood, and metal with lacquer ornamentation. Red lacquer was the most fashionable material for embellishing combs in the second half of the 18th century. Sallie Casey Thayer obtained this ivory-and-lacquer kushi and many others that, when displayed together, demonstrate the full range of their styles and materials. In the Spencer Museum collections, there are 57 combs given by Thayer.

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Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU

Natural forms of an undulating branch with curling leaves and flowers decorate this kushi, or comb. Japanese women commonly wore ornamental combs, like this one, in their hair during the Edo period (1600–1868). Workshops generally produced these accessories in ivory, wood, and metal with lacquer ornamentation. Red lacquer was the most fashionable material for embellishing combs in the second half of the 18th century.