A pair of early 20th century Meiji period Japanese lacquered combs, elegantly transformed into a pair of earrings, elaborately decorated at either ends with tsavorites, diamonds and carved leaf rubies. All gold is 18K.
This Meiji period Maki-e Lacquer work combs were crafted for Geishas and, designed with the inspiration of flowers, from the gardens of ancient imperial palaces and forts of Japan. The combs were Maki-e lacquered, i.e., sprinkled with gold or silver powder as a decoration using a cannister (makizutsu) or a hair-tipped paint brush (kebo brush). The technique was developed mainly during the Heian period (794–1185) to decorate screens, albums, letter boxes, and ink-slab cases. To create different colours and textures, maki-e artists use a variety of metal powders including gold, silver, copper etc. as alloys. Bamboo tubes and soft brushes of various sizes are used for laying powders and drawing fine lines. As it requires highly skilled craftsmanship to produce a maki-e painting, young artists usually go through many years of training to develop the skills and to ultimately become maki-e masters.
The masterful elegant piece took over 4 months with over 8 craftsmen involved at various stages.
White Rose cut Diamonds: 0.58 ct. (approx.)
White Tapper Step Diamonds: 0.22 ct.
Tsavorite: 3.09 ct. (approx.)
Rubies: 13.34 ct.
Dimension: 9.6(L) x 2.8(W) x 0.7(D) cm.
Weight: 20 g.
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