The ivory combs for combing the hair vary in size and in the strength of their teeth. Sometimes a comb made of boxwood was inlaid with ivory, and delicately pierced panels were inserted in the centre of the comb. In some instances a small mirror is found instead of a carved panel; especially is that the case with the smaller combs carried in a reticule or bag.
Inscriptions were common, such, for instance, as those which breathed the sentiment on a boxwood comb in the British Museum, which is inscribed in French: "Accept with goodwill this little gift"; it is a pretty piece of early work, dating probably from the middle of the sixteenth century.
FIG. 65.—THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS.
FIG. 66.—SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS.
FIG. 67.—ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET.