From a bush of flowers a crane, symbol of longevity and fidelity, takes off while a turtle emerges from the sea with a train of algae that has grown over the centuries on its carapace. Minogame is the mythical animal that lived ten thousand years. The object (in the opening photo) comes from Japan and is part of the Antonini Collection kept at the Museo delle Culture in Lugano (Musec) and narrated in the catalog «Combs and head ornaments» edited by Alessia Borellini for SilvanaEditoriale.
The volume tells the journey of collectors Gabriella and Giorgio Antonini in search of 1182 objects from all continents, made between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries with various materials: bone, wood, ivory, stones, shells, coral, kingfisher feathers … . Objects that have been part of the intimacy of women engaged, in front of a mirror, to give light, color and harmony to their hair of rebellious curls and limp locks with hairpins, combs, tiaras to draw the attention of others or the benevolence of spirits and gods. And one seems to perceive the tinkling of chains and rattles, the vibrant sighs of feathers, the spirals of knots, the disturbing presence of sharp objects, nails, arrows, daggers, pins and rays.
Neapolitan hair clip. A lucky chain supports a horned hand, two chillies and two hearts
The cards of the collection are preceded by insights from experts such as Jen Cruse, scholar and collector of decorative combs, who traces the history of combs from their origin to the Liberty period. Instead, Catherine Olliveaud, collector and expert in ornamental combs and curator of “Creative Museum”, the first virtual museum of head ornaments (www.creative-museum.com). It points out important artists, designers, artisans and jewelers who still today try their hand at the use of new technologies and materials. But it is no less industrial production that has allowed millions of women to access imaginative accessories for their hairstyles.
Ornamental seashell comb with metal teeth
Paola Venturelli, art historian, explores the symbolic and aesthetic meaning of those objects. Like, in the photo above, the lunette-shaped shell comb (a wedding gift?) Where an “ornatrix” is depicted combing a Roman matron, perhaps a bride, surrounded by maids while a Cupid plays the trumpet.
Francesco Civita, expert in oriental arts and curator of the oriental collections of the Stibbert Museum in Florence, explains the cult of discretion in female beauty in traditional Japan which is expressed above all with elegance, discretion and attention to detail. Even the hairstyle follows the canons of tradition with its refined ornaments that represent the only jewels to wear: «they reveal the sensitivity of a culture that often remains a fascinating mystery for us Westerners».
A rare set consisting of two combs and a turtle case made in Jamaica in 1677 and the probable copy of an ancient Egyptian comb
Disheveled history of humanity
I also point out «Out of my head – Disheveled history of humanity» (Donzelli) by Louise Vercors and Pierre d’Onneau, an entertainment book for a journey through hairstyles of all kinds.
Louis XIV, struck by the typhus that had exterminated his beautiful hair, wore a wig appropriate for each stage of his day: awakening, hunting, lunches, walks and receptions. The pharaohs, on the other hand, shaved their heads before accommodating elaborate wigs that made them attractive and majestic. Flowing hair instead for other sovereigns and warriors all over the world who, however, did not disdain to adorn them with combs, pearls, feathers, bones or to order them braids.
In Japan, samurai shaved the front of the skull and gathered the rest of the hair at the nape of the neck. The Manchus, when they invaded Han territory, forced them to shave their heads over their foreheads and grow a long braid from the nape of their necks. In Africa, hunters had the privilege of wearing lion manes and other feline furs as headdresses as a sign of virility. The warriors of some tribes, especially among the American Indians, tried to appropriate the enemy’s scalp to offer to the spirits and deprive him of his strength.
Imperfect shaves
These are some episodes of this story about hair and their cultural and social expressions. The authors also recall that the “long-haired” aristocrats were opposed by the condition of slaves and “uncomfortable” women who were shaved as a sign of contempt, monks and nuns who sacrificed their hair as a choice to renounce before entering the convent.
The girls, on the other hand, could show their long hair (preferably blonde) but only until marriage. After which there was the custom of wearing a veil, wig or improbable scaffolding depending on fashion or social status.
Female hair in the Arab world is considered a tool of seduction so powerful as to impose the use of the veil around which the debate is always heated.
Speaking of the veil, for an interesting and documented reading, I suggest the book “The veil” (SilvanaEditoriale) edited by Andrea Busto.
Nonconformists
Using their own hair, women have performed courageous acts such as a boy cut as a sign of rebellion against male cultural dominance. And furthermore, in the poorer communities the girls, often with immense regret, sold their long braids to wig makers to get a dowry or help the family.
Revolutionary hair without distinction of gender appears in the years of the revolt against the bourgeoisie, racial segregation, the rejection of conformity: afro, hippies, skinheads, natural happy, punk have paved the way for other forms of vanity, social identification, creativity, new conformisms and any idea that comes to mind.