Comb making 101

Before crafting any kind of object, the raw materials must be gathered. For a medieval comb, these could be wood, antler, bone, or in rare cases even ivory or walrus tusk.Deborah Deliyannis, Hendrik Dey and Paolo Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things: Materials of Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2019), 121. 9781501730283. The raw materials are then cut into the right shape, decorated to taste, and assembled. “Kam van hertengewei.” Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Accessed January 27, 2022, https://www.rmo.nl/museumkennis/archeologie-van-nederland/nederland-in-de-middeleeuwen/kam-van-hertengewei/. Having to put together different pieces of material to make one comb might seem strange when we think about the present-day one-piece combs, but this is actually very logical considering the way the teeth are created.

Picture a deer antler: a long branch-like object that is quite narrow. Like the wood of the branch, antlers also have a grain that should be followed while carving out the teeth.Deliyannis, Dey and Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things, 121. It would be very convenient if the grain lined up in such a way that it was possible to carve teeth along the whole antler, and then divide it into multiple combs, but alas… By following the grain, it would only be possible to make one short comb with disproportionately long teeth.“Kam van hertengewei.” Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Accessed January 27, 2022, https://www.rmo.nl/museumkennis/archeologie-van-nederland/nederland-in-de-middeleeuwen/kam-van-hertengewei/.

To solve this problem, the antler is cut into multiple shorter pieces which are then placed next to each other to form one comb. The deer antler comb from Loppersum consists of nine such pieces, as is visible from the row of nine nails on the spine. The extra strip of antler between the spine and the teeth is added to strengthen the comb.Deliyannis, Dey and Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things, 121. Before assembly, the maker could decide to decorate it, but this was fully optional.Deliyannis, Dey and Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things, 121.

Now that the comb is finished, it is ready to fulfill its glorious purpose!