Accessories

This wood engraving displays five ornamental combs rendered in bold white-line technique against a dark ground. Each comb features an elaborate filigree top—scrollwork, floral motifs, or geometric patterns—above regularly spaced teeth. The composition recalls medieval manuscript illumination and decorative arts traditions. The work descends from the 18th- and 19th-century print satire lineage of Hogarth and Gillray, though here luxury objects replace caricatured figures. The precise, graphic style anticipates modern advertising design and comic illustration. The catalog reference and period mark the piece within early 20th-century commercial and fine art crossover, when printmakers applied traditional engraving skills to fashion and commodity imagery.