LOT 2
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A Jamaican Colonial engraved tortoiseshell double comb, late 17th century, attributed to Paul Bennett or Matthew Comberford
作品估价：GBP 5,000 - 7,000
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图录号：
2
拍品名称：
A Jamaican Colonial engraved tortoiseshell double comb, late 17th century, attributed to Paul Bennett or Matthew Comberford
拍品描述：
the frame incised on both sides with floral decoration, enclosing a comb with fine teeth on one side and a comb with broader teeth on the other
12.3cm high, 20cm wide;
4 ⅞ in., 7 ⅞ in.
the frame incised on both sides with floral decoration, enclosing a comb with fine teeth on one side and a comb with broader teeth on the other
12.3cm high, 20cm wide;
4 ⅞ in., 7 ⅞ in.
By repute in the possession of Katherine, Duchess of Queensberry (1701-1777) by descent to,
Sir Henry Montagu Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812) and Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch (1743–1827) to their youngest son,
Henry James Montagu-Scott, 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton at Ditton Park(1776–1845) to his eldest daughter,
The Hon. Lucy Elizabeth Montagu-Scott (1805–1877) who married Cosptarick, 11th Earl of Home (1799–1881),
thence by descent in the collection of the Earls of Home at The Hirsel, Berwickshire.
A. W. Chisholm,Inventory of Antique Silver, Miniatures, Curious &c. belonging to the Right Hon. The Earl of Home, The Hirsel, Coldstream, from the Ditton Park Collection etc,Edinburgh, February 1904, in the North Room, p. 68, ('Belonged to Katherine, Duchess of Queensbury');
Lofts & Warner, Valuation of Jewels, Curiosities, etc at The Hirsel, Coldstream, The Property of the Right Hon. The Earl Home, K.T, London, June 1938, Central Hall, Upright Cabinet, p. 1.
Rare tortoiseshell combs like this one are often described as the earliest Jamaican objects that reflect European culture, following an observation first made by in an article on Jamaican decorative combs in 1923.
Certainly, the examples of similar combs that are engraved with their date of manufacture place them in 1673 and even as early as 1670 , a mere fifteen years after the Invasion of Jamaica in 1655. The lustrous, flecked tortoiseshell testifies to an intersection of European taste and Caribbean ecology – by the seventeenth century, tortoiseshell was one of the most admired materials in European decorative art, often worked using impressive techniques like piqué in Naples and Boulle marquetry in French furniture. This expressive and durable shell could only be extracted from hawksbill turtles, though, which were not native to Europe; the increasing presence of tortoiseshell in Europe reflects ever-stronger trading links with the West Indies in the seventeenth century, with Jamaica providing one of the richest sources of this coveted material.
The designs for these combs usually feature rinceaux and stylised blooms in a way that echoes the composition of English needleworks and embroideries of the time. The flowers on the present example appear to be depictions of sunflowers, Tudor roses and tulips, but other combs made at the same time also incorporate elements of local Jamaican life: the case accompanying a similar example in the V&A sports palm trees, sugar cane and figures in indigenous dress, and the example in the MET also includes pineapples in the decoration of its case. The form of the present comb, with a fine-toothed side for lice and a coarser-toothed side to brush and style hair and wigs, is somewhat rarer than the other surviving examples, where the two are usually separated.
Research by Philip Hart attributes combs in this style to the documented comb-maker Paul Bennett and his assumed successor, Matthew Comberford; their work can only be distinguished on stylistic differences to the engraved comb cases that often accompany the combs, and Hart notes that "the combs [themselves] are very similar and always decorated with floriated designs" in a manner that is "almost indistinguishable".
Numerous major museums have examples in their collection, most notably the MET (2018.7.1–.3) and the V&A (524 to B-1877), though the largest collection by far is in the National Institute of Jamaica. Though not many of these combs remain in existence, some examples have been sold recently at auction houses, including Sotheby’s and Bonhams.
The Duchess of Queensberry
The 1904 inventory of family heirlooms at the Hirsel includes a reference to this comb noting that it “belonged to Katherine Duchess of Queensberry”. Catherine Hyde (1701-1777), Duchess of Queensberry after 1720 and often nicknamed Kitty, was a prominent and sometimes controversial figure on the London cultural scene, whose colourful life and unexpected behaviour has left us a wealth of surviving observations and anecdotes about her. She was descended from the Earl of Clarendon and Rochester on her father’s side, and was a woman of considerable beauty. Her behaviour can often be described as characterful: for instance, she tended to dress very plainly, going so far as to wear peasant clothing and aprons, even for highly formal events at the court. She was well-connected in literary circles, and when she was expelled from George II’s court, it was because she had forcefully argued against the censorship of a new work by a playwright she patronised, Polly by John Gay. Horace Walpole, who was not Kitty’s biggest fan, wrote snidely to HoraceMann after moving to Twickenham that “Thank God! The Thames is between me and the Duchess of Queensberry!” and he may also be at the origin of the claim that she died of “surfeit of cherries”.
There are no clearly apparent links to Jamaica in the Duke or Duchess of Queensberry’s immediate families or lines of inheritance, but given that this comb was already decades old when Katherine was born, it may have come to her through friends, noble connections or more distant relatives.
1 H.M. Cundall describes a newly acquired tortoiseshell comb and case dated 1671 as "probably one of the earliest art objects made in the British West Indies displaying European influence". He also links the Jamaican combs to thetortoiseshell combs that were for a long time a popular fashion in Spain. See H.M. Cundall, 'Early Jamaican Handicraft', The West India Committee Circular , vol. XXXVIII, no. 639, 29th March 1923, p.136-7.
2 The examples in the V&A (524 to B-1877) and National Institute of Jamaica.
3 The example sold at Bonhams London, 23 June 2021, lot 35.
4 The only other two-sided combs appear to be those that sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 October 2009, lot 82 and the example in the collection of the Institute of Jamaica pictured on P. Hart, 'Tortoiseshell Comb Cases: A 17th century Jamaican Craft' in Jamaica Journal, vol. 16, no. 3 (1983), p.13.
5 Ibid., p.20.
6 Sotheby’s: 16 October 2009, lot 82
Bonhams: 21 November 2012, lot 9; 25 October 2017, lot 39 (where purchased by the MET); 23 June 2021, lot 35.
Chiswick: 30th March 2021, lot 37.
Wooley & Wallis: 26 March 2013, lot 248.
7 Inventory of Contents of Cabinets etc. at the Hirsel, (1904), p.68.
8 P. Cunningham (ed.), The Letters of Horace Walpole, Edinburgh, 1906, vol. ii, p86. Available at:<https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210188/page/n119/mode/2up> [accessed 10th March 2025]
9 The National Portrait Gallery, for instance, note in the online biography for the Duchess of Queensberry that she “reputedly died of a surfeit of cherries”. See <https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp03684/catherine-douglas-nee-hyde-duchess-of-queensberry> [accessed 10 March 2025]
12.3cm high, 20cm wide;
4 ⅞ in., 7 ⅞ in.
the frame incised on both sides with floral decoration, enclosing a comb with fine teeth on one side and a comb with broader teeth on the other
12.3cm high, 20cm wide;
4 ⅞ in., 7 ⅞ in.
By repute in the possession of Katherine, Duchess of Queensberry (1701-1777) by descent to,
Sir Henry Montagu Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch (1746-1812) and Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch (1743–1827) to their youngest son,
Henry James Montagu-Scott, 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton at Ditton Park(1776–1845) to his eldest daughter,
The Hon. Lucy Elizabeth Montagu-Scott (1805–1877) who married Cosptarick, 11th Earl of Home (1799–1881),
thence by descent in the collection of the Earls of Home at The Hirsel, Berwickshire.
A. W. Chisholm,Inventory of Antique Silver, Miniatures, Curious &c. belonging to the Right Hon. The Earl of Home, The Hirsel, Coldstream, from the Ditton Park Collection etc,Edinburgh, February 1904, in the North Room, p. 68, ('Belonged to Katherine, Duchess of Queensbury');
Lofts & Warner, Valuation of Jewels, Curiosities, etc at The Hirsel, Coldstream, The Property of the Right Hon. The Earl Home, K.T, London, June 1938, Central Hall, Upright Cabinet, p. 1.
Rare tortoiseshell combs like this one are often described as the earliest Jamaican objects that reflect European culture, following an observation first made by in an article on Jamaican decorative combs in 1923.
Certainly, the examples of similar combs that are engraved with their date of manufacture place them in 1673 and even as early as 1670 , a mere fifteen years after the Invasion of Jamaica in 1655. The lustrous, flecked tortoiseshell testifies to an intersection of European taste and Caribbean ecology – by the seventeenth century, tortoiseshell was one of the most admired materials in European decorative art, often worked using impressive techniques like piqué in Naples and Boulle marquetry in French furniture. This expressive and durable shell could only be extracted from hawksbill turtles, though, which were not native to Europe; the increasing presence of tortoiseshell in Europe reflects ever-stronger trading links with the West Indies in the seventeenth century, with Jamaica providing one of the richest sources of this coveted material.
The designs for these combs usually feature rinceaux and stylised blooms in a way that echoes the composition of English needleworks and embroideries of the time. The flowers on the present example appear to be depictions of sunflowers, Tudor roses and tulips, but other combs made at the same time also incorporate elements of local Jamaican life: the case accompanying a similar example in the V&A sports palm trees, sugar cane and figures in indigenous dress, and the example in the MET also includes pineapples in the decoration of its case. The form of the present comb, with a fine-toothed side for lice and a coarser-toothed side to brush and style hair and wigs, is somewhat rarer than the other surviving examples, where the two are usually separated.
Research by Philip Hart attributes combs in this style to the documented comb-maker Paul Bennett and his assumed successor, Matthew Comberford; their work can only be distinguished on stylistic differences to the engraved comb cases that often accompany the combs, and Hart notes that "the combs [themselves] are very similar and always decorated with floriated designs" in a manner that is "almost indistinguishable".
Numerous major museums have examples in their collection, most notably the MET (2018.7.1–.3) and the V&A (524 to B-1877), though the largest collection by far is in the National Institute of Jamaica. Though not many of these combs remain in existence, some examples have been sold recently at auction houses, including Sotheby’s and Bonhams.
The Duchess of Queensberry
The 1904 inventory of family heirlooms at the Hirsel includes a reference to this comb noting that it “belonged to Katherine Duchess of Queensberry”. Catherine Hyde (1701-1777), Duchess of Queensberry after 1720 and often nicknamed Kitty, was a prominent and sometimes controversial figure on the London cultural scene, whose colourful life and unexpected behaviour has left us a wealth of surviving observations and anecdotes about her. She was descended from the Earl of Clarendon and Rochester on her father’s side, and was a woman of considerable beauty. Her behaviour can often be described as characterful: for instance, she tended to dress very plainly, going so far as to wear peasant clothing and aprons, even for highly formal events at the court. She was well-connected in literary circles, and when she was expelled from George II’s court, it was because she had forcefully argued against the censorship of a new work by a playwright she patronised, Polly by John Gay. Horace Walpole, who was not Kitty’s biggest fan, wrote snidely to HoraceMann after moving to Twickenham that “Thank God! The Thames is between me and the Duchess of Queensberry!” and he may also be at the origin of the claim that she died of “surfeit of cherries”.
There are no clearly apparent links to Jamaica in the Duke or Duchess of Queensberry’s immediate families or lines of inheritance, but given that this comb was already decades old when Katherine was born, it may have come to her through friends, noble connections or more distant relatives.
1 H.M. Cundall describes a newly acquired tortoiseshell comb and case dated 1671 as "probably one of the earliest art objects made in the British West Indies displaying European influence". He also links the Jamaican combs to thetortoiseshell combs that were for a long time a popular fashion in Spain. See H.M. Cundall, 'Early Jamaican Handicraft', The West India Committee Circular , vol. XXXVIII, no. 639, 29th March 1923, p.136-7.
2 The examples in the V&A (524 to B-1877) and National Institute of Jamaica.
3 The example sold at Bonhams London, 23 June 2021, lot 35.
4 The only other two-sided combs appear to be those that sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 October 2009, lot 82 and the example in the collection of the Institute of Jamaica pictured on P. Hart, 'Tortoiseshell Comb Cases: A 17th century Jamaican Craft' in Jamaica Journal, vol. 16, no. 3 (1983), p.13.
5 Ibid., p.20.
6 Sotheby’s: 16 October 2009, lot 82
Bonhams: 21 November 2012, lot 9; 25 October 2017, lot 39 (where purchased by the MET); 23 June 2021, lot 35.
Chiswick: 30th March 2021, lot 37.
Wooley & Wallis: 26 March 2013, lot 248.
7 Inventory of Contents of Cabinets etc. at the Hirsel, (1904), p.68.
8 P. Cunningham (ed.), The Letters of Horace Walpole, Edinburgh, 1906, vol. ii, p86. Available at:<https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210188/page/n119/mode/2up> [accessed 10th March 2025]
9 The National Portrait Gallery, for instance, note in the online biography for the Duchess of Queensberry that she “reputedly died of a surfeit of cherries”. See <https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp03684/catherine-douglas-nee-hyde-duchess-of-queensberry> [accessed 10 March 2025]