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Fragment of a double comb from the Coptic period
Egyptian
Byzantine (Coptic) Period
A.D. 364–476
Medium/Technique
Wood
Dimensions
Length x width: 14 x 3 cm (5 1/2 x 1 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession Number72.4338
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment
DescriptionCoarse teeth on one side and fine teeth on the opposite end; central band decorated with conventional patterns in relief; poor condition.
This comb is long and narrow and similar to other combs from Coptic Egypt from this period, including one example in the Coptic Cairo Museum (inv. 8833) which is incised with a series of crosses.
See Josef Strzygowski, Catalogue General des Antiquites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire: Koptische Kunst (Vienna: Imprimerie Adolf Holzhausen, 1904), pp. 145 and Tafel VIII.
This comb is long and narrow and similar to other combs from Coptic Egypt from this period, including one example in the Coptic Cairo Museum (inv. 8833) which is incised with a series of crosses.
See Josef Strzygowski, Catalogue General des Antiquites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire: Koptische Kunst (Vienna: Imprimerie Adolf Holzhausen, 1904), pp. 145 and Tafel VIII.
ProvenanceBy 1836: Robert Hay Collection, Linplum, Scotland; 1863: to his son, Robert James Alexander Hay; 1868-1872: Way Collection,Boston (purchased by Samuel A. Way through London dealers Rollin and Feuardent, 27 Haymarket); 1872: given to the MFA by Samuel's son, C. Granville Way.