Fig. 164.—Ivory Combs, of the Mycenaean and Roman Periods
(Nos. 397, 400, 401). 1:3.
Combs.—To begin with the more necessary implements, the combs go back to a high antiquity. An ivory comb from Enkomi in Cyprus dates from the Mycenaean age (No. 397; fig. 164). It is of simpler form than later combs, having only one row of teeth. The others are of the Greek and Roman periods, and are made both of wood and bone. The usual pattern is that of a modern tooth-comb, with a row of teeth on each side of the body—one coarse and one fine. There are wooden examples from Kertch, in South Russia (No. 398). More elaborate is the ivory piece, which is decorated with reliefs, a Gryphon and a lion on one side and two cranes at a fountain on the other (No. 399. The original is in the case of Ivories, L). Another of good Roman period is carved by an amateur hand with an inscription, doubtless in compliment to the lady to whom it belonged (No. 400; fig. 164). The legend reads MODESTINA·V·H·E·E—the four letters at the end being perhaps abbreviated epithets of the fair Modestina, V(irgo) H(onesta) E(t) E(gregia). A different type appears in the triangular pocket-comb, which fits into a protecting case (No. 401; fig. 164). This belongs to the end of the Roman Empire, the fourth century A.D., and may already show the influence of barbarian art. Similar combs were brought to England by the Danes, and some of them which have been found at York and elsewhere are exhibited in the British and Mediaeval Department.
With the combs is a brush of vegetable bristles from an Egyptian rubbish heap of a late period of the empire (No. 402).
Fig. 165.—Toilet Box of Eulimine (No. 406).
Toilet Boxes.—Other relics of the dressing-table are the toilet-boxes and scent-bottles. There is a Greek toilet-box from Naukratis still coloured by the rouge which it contained (No. 403); and another has a carved wooden lid in the shape of a woman's head of great beauty (No. 404). A leaden box was found in a Greek tomb at Halikarnassos (No. 405). Another was given by Kratylos of Aegina to Eulimine. The inscription, the modern turn of which is perhaps not free from suspicion, describes it as a "slight token of respect from a certain small Aeginetan" (No. 406; fig. 165).[43] Other boxes of bronze and ivory date from the Roman period. Most of the wooden boxes are carved in fantastic or frivolous shapes: a swimming duck, a crouching boar, and a shoe (Nos. 407, 408, 409). These are divided into compartments for the various powders, and some blocks of paint are still preserved. For liquid ointments there are an alabaster box (No. 410) and three bottles of the same material and remains of a leather bottle with its cork (No. 411). An Etruscan bronze cista, which stands on three human feet, contains a set of movable tubes, each for a different unguent (No. 412). The lid of this receptacle was crowned by the small bronze statuette which stands beside it. Besides cosmetics for the complexion, the toilet-boxes may have held tooth-powders, for which there are many receipts in the works of ancient writers on medicine.
Mirrors.—For mirrors the ancients were at a disadvantage. The use of glass was known, but was not common, and the ordinary reflecting medium was a sheet of burnished metal. There are, however, two genuine looking-glasses—one in a leaden frame, from Olbia (No. 413), and the other set, with several fragments, in a plaster slab, from Gheyta, in Egypt (No. 414). The glass was probably backed with foil, and it is remarkable that the reflectors are convex, so that the image must have been distorted. A similar surface is attempted on the square sheet of metal, which is glazed with a vitreous enamel (No. 415).
Fig. 166.—Bronze Razor of Primitive Shape (No. 421). 1:2.