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Comb with case

English (London) and Jamaican (Port Royal)
about 1680
Object Place: Europe, London, England

Medium/Technique Tortoiseshell with silver mounts
Dimensions 18.4 × 11.8 × 1.1 cm (7 1/4 × 4 5/8 × 7/16 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Samuel Cabot
Accession Number60.1173a-b
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver

DescriptionTortoiseshell comb and case made in Port Royal, Jamaica, for the London market; mounted in London. The rectangular box is open on one side. On each face, the four corners are fitted with silver mounts that are engraved with stylized flowers. The borders of the tortoiseshell are engraved with an egg-and-dart pattern. One face is engraved with a nut-bearing tree and two pineapples (?) and is inscribed, A CASHV TREE. The reverse is engraved with the arms of Jamaica supported by standing men wearing loincloths, one bearing a bow and arrow and the other a spear. Below is the engraved motto, INDVS VUERQUE SERVIET VNI. The interior of the box is lined with silk. The flat comb has rounded corners, long, widely spaced teeth and is engraved on the handle with stylized foliage. The flat faces of the box are composed of single sheets of tortoiseshell. The silver corner mounts are cut from sheet and engraved. The box is assembled with rivets through the narrow sides. The comb is carved from a single sheet of tortoiseshell.
Marks Unmarked
InscriptionsOne face is engraved with a nut-bearing tree and two pineapples (?) and is inscribed, A CASHV TREE. The reverse is engraved with the arms of Jamaica supported by standing men wearing loincloths, one bearing a bow and arrow and the other a spear. Below is the engraved motto, INDVS VUERQUE SERVIET VNI.
ProvenanceBy 1925, Percival D. Griffiths (1862-1937), St. Albans: by 1960, How (of Edingburgh), London; Gift of Mrs. Samuel Cabot, October 13, 1960.