Comb

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This richly carved comb was probably owned by a noble woman and may have been a wedding gift. The register of broader teeth was used for detangling the hair, while the finer teeth served both to straighten the hair, make them silkier and softer, but also to get rid of lice. The couple on each side of a fountain may evoke the fountain of love, inspired by medieval courteous literature, and possibly by the Roman de la Rose. The swan atop the fountain may also be related to love, while the dogs on either side probably symbolize fidelity.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art