An Early Medieval Bone Comb | Main Gallery

In terms of comprehension the spell cast by the matted decoration inscribed upon this comb is both naive and enigmatic in equal measure – creating an anomaly where the shine and lustre of words are merely nitpicking at a greater story, perhaps locked away from us by the shear volume of eternity.

The licentious tyranny of conventional description here thwarted by a comb whose perfect teeth stand like irascible bristles defiant before the knots and tangles of time – for what greater irony could there be; than this brush against the naked skull of memento mori.

Product features

• England
• Circa 1140
• Width 3.5"