Context (CMS Context)
Used by women to comb hair; Collected by: Unnithan.Maya in 1987
Event Date 5/5/1988
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Wooden comb, plain; Good; Whole
Event Date 5/5/1988
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Bhil Comb
Event Date 7/12/2016
Author: maa

Conservation (Remedial)
CON.2016.3493 | Remedial
Event Date 10/8/2016
Author: Kirstie Williams

Exhibition (Li Ka Shing Gallery)
EXH.2017.2 | Another India: Explorations and Expressions of Indigenous South Asia
Event Date 8/3/2017
Author: Remke Velden

Context (Display)
'Another India: Explorations and Expressions of Indigenous South Asia' 07/03/2017 - 22/04/2018 MAA exhibition label text reads:

Combs: Intimate associations

Combs like this were, and still are, worn in the hair by men and women as ornaments and to support elaborate hairstyles.
Given by one person to another on important occasions, from courtship to funerals, they were commonly worn by Adivasi peoples across India and frequently collected by the wide variety of outsiders who encountered them.

The combs shown here were collected and given to the Museum by Indians and Europeans at different points in history. But while we often know something about collectors and donors, we know little or nothing about the people who made and wore these objects, or about the encounters that led to them being given up.

6. Dark wood comb

This last comb was collected during research in Rajasthan
by Indian anthropologist
Maya Unnithan in the 1980s, when a student at Cambridge. She was interested in gender and ‘tribal’ identity among the Girasia, who are closely identified with the Bhils. Combs like this were one item with which ‘tribal’ women negotiated their visibility in public spaces like markets.

Girasia (Bhil). Sirohi, Rajasthan
Collected by Maya Unnithan, 1987
Crowther-Beynon Fund
1988.234

Event Date 8/3/2017
Author: Remke Velden

Context (Other)
The object entered the museum on 25/4/1988.
Event Date 11/4/2018
Author: Remke Velden