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Image for Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life
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Image for Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life
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Image for Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life
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Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail
Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life Thumbnail

Double Comb with Scenes of Courtly Life

Italian (Artist)
1400-1430 (Late Medieval)
ivory, paint, gilding
(Medieval Europe )

Ivory or a fine-grained wood were the materials preferred for combs, with ivory the most popular for luxury goods. Indeed this comb depicts typical pastimes of wealthy nobles. On one side, couples dance in a garden as a seated lady plays a portable organ. The other side depicts hunters, their hunting dogs, and a deer that has been trapped. The teeth are original wtih fine teeth on one side and coarser ones on the other. Traces of the original paint on the trees and costumes and the gilding on the hair of the figures are preserved.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Richard Forrer, Strasbourg [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Leon Gruel, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Exhibitions

2016-2017 A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota.
2014 Seeing Music in Medieval Manuscripts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
1998-2001 Highlights from the Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1997 Images in Ivory: Precious Objects of the Gothic Age. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1995-1996 Medieval Games of Love and War. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1984-1985 Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
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Geographies

Italy (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H: 4 9/16 × W: 5 1/2 × D: 1/4 in. (11.6 × 14 × 0.6 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1929

Location in Museum

Centre Street: Third Floor: The Great Room

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

71.215

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Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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