Comb

CultureTutsi

Dateca. 1900

MediumWood, copper wire, and fiber string

DimensionsOverall: 10 3/8 × 3 3/4 × 3/8 inches (26.35 × 9.53 × 0.95 cm)

Credit LineGift of Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, 2025

Object number2025.56.22

On View

Not on view

Terms

Implement

DescriptionThis comb features 16 teeth made from thin wooden elements. The teeth run the length of the comb and are bound together by two different tones of brown copper wire. The darker copper wire is wrapped in five thin horizontal bands placed incrementally down the length of the comb, creating five separate sections. The lighter copper wire is woven through the thin wooden pieces to create four decorative triangle shapes - two on either side of the comb. The copper wire was wrapped in a way that allows the wooden teeth to fan out more broadly at the tip of the comb for greater ease of use.Provenance

Provenance

With Taylor Dale Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, by June 2005 [1];

Purchased from Taylor Dale Gallery by Ralph T. Coe (1929-2010), Santa Fe, NM, June 2005-2010;

His bequest to the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM, 2010-2025;

The Coe Center's gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025.

NOTES:

[1] According to object documentation provided by the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts at the time of the object's gift, see Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

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