I found this primitive miniature brush/comb in an antiques shop near Brimfield, and have no real idea what it would have been used for-- but I think it is completely extraordinary! All of the tiny "teeth" appear to have been individually carved of wood, each with quite a sharp point, then the straight ends were inserted one by one into the face of the "brush." Perhaps it was used for combing small bits of fleece very very very finely? I can’t imagine this level of craft would have been invested in making something that wasn’t an important tool for something fine….if you know, please share with me! In any case, I am in love with it as a thing, and for sense of wonder it induces at imagining how anyone could have made it. (What patience!)
3" l x 1 1/4" w x 3/4" d. Very good presumed antique condition, with perhaps a spike or two lost and some surface blackening/charring to the wood as evident, all to the good I think. Stable and sound and not very fragile.
You might also like
