Love and Courtship

Unknown   (French)

Comb

15th century


boxwood, bone, silk

3.88 x 5.81 x 0.25 in

9.84 x 14.76 x 0.64 cm

 

Kathleen Boone Samuels Memorial Fund
88.137

Made with pieces of carved bone laid over thin layers of silk, this wooden comb reveals the exquisite quality of some luxury items of the later Middle Ages. It is carved with decorative motifs, an image of an arm piercing a heart with an arrow, and the words Vive celle que i’aime (Life to her whom I love). Men and women would exchange gifts like this comb at engagement or wedding ceremonies.
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