The earliest combs are the row of 4 on the extreme left. These are all horn, two with dyed flowers. They are in the 1800 - 1830 range. The next oldest are the top one in the 7th row from left - tortoise 1830s's? and the second one ( hinged MOP and horn) from the top in the 9th row - 1850s - 60s. The rest are 1880s - 1920s, with most from the 1890s - 1910s. Combs were still around through the 30s, 40s and 50s, but got much smaller and simpler and were in fewer materials - mostly rhinestone and plastic pieces for evening.
Combs can be very hard to date as designs were produced over many years. Most of these are celluloid, with a scattering of horn and tortoise shell. Materials can vary greatly, from horn to tortoise and celluloid, ivory, silver, gold, even aluminum, rubber, and gutta percha.
One of the ones that is off in a case and missed the photo is Chinese and is metal with kingfisher feathers. It's a favorite.
The tortoise Mantilla comb on the bottom row still has it's velvet presentation box and the tortoise? one at the bottom of the first row still has it's original Tiffany's box.
What I don't have, and almost never see, are the tiara style combs and the parures with combs/ tiara necklace/earrings and bracelets.
Hollis
