You may wish to consult the Dictionnaire d'archeologie chretienne et de
liturgie, vol. 13, cc. 2932-2959, s.v. Peigne for a fascinating article on
combs. It may be a little out of date, 1938, but is still interesting and
useful.

With every good wish.

Thomas Sullivan, OSB


At 08:46 AM 31/12/96 +0000, you wrote:
>Dear Fellow List Members
>
>I'm taking the liberty of cross-posting the following inquiry because I'm as
>intrigued as the inquirer. Sarah's student tells me the illustration is from
>John Beckwith (1972), _Ivory Carving in Early Medieval England_. She adds that
>examples can be found in most studies of ivories, and that this one has 'a
>definite Celtic/Insular look to it'. In my usual scatty way of lop-sided rather
>than lateral thinking, I was put in mind of the HB story of Bishop Germanus and
>the business with Vortigern's incestously-begotten son involving comb, scissors
>and razor which Nora Chadwick a long time ago interpreted as a fostering
>ritual. That led me to wonder whether ceremonies might have been involved in
>the formal reception of oblates. Perhaps someone can tell me. Similarly, was
>there a ritual (?liturgical) aspect to the act of tonsuring? Since so much
>symbolic significance is attached to hair and its style, and not just in
>Christianity, it would be interesting to know what purpose these combs had.
>I will forward any comments/advice/ideas to ANSAXNET.
>
>Happy New Year!
>
>Graham Jones
>Leicester
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
>> From [log in to unmask] Mon Dec 30 04:57:44 1996
>> Message-Id: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date:         Sun, 29 Dec 1996 22:57:57 -0500
>> Reply-To: ANSAXNET Discussion Forum <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sender: ANSAXNET Discussion Forum <[log in to unmask]>
>> From: Sarah Larratt Keefer <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject:      Liturgical COMBS? I HAVE to ask!
>> Comments: To: ansax-l <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: Multiple recipients of list ANSAX-L <[log in to unmask]>
>> 
>> I have a problem, guys.
>> 
>> I am, of course, a liturgist (mad or otherwise) and not an art historian
>> or archaeologist...but when my grad student Kendra Adema (who's also on
>> this list, and some of you already know her) was looking for an artifact
>> which would satisfy both the 'medieval' and 'anthropological' aspects
>> of the Masters she's embarking on, and brought me a book on medieval
>> pre-Conquest ivories, she showed me a picture of something called a
>> 'liturgical comb' and asked what it was. In the words of the Monty Python
>> traditional pepper-pot, "well, I NEVER!" and I admitted utter defeat...
>> but insatiable curiosity and horrid fascination were the inevitable result.
>> 
>> Anyone ever heard of this phenomenon? It's a comb, all right, two-sided
>> (fine and broad toothed, in fact) with carved scenes on it which I'd
>> assume to be biblical. In fact there are a few of them (combs, as opposed
>> to carvings, sides, teeth, etc.). What, in the name of God and all His
>> Saints, WERE these things? I mean, in what way are they considered
>> 'liturgical'? They were gifts to bishops (who would have been
>> tonsured, surely? or many of them? would they have had beards?) as opposed
>> to women, and in one case, I'm sure the entry noted 'for use in liturgy'.
>> 
>> As we say up here in the Great White North, "EH?"
>> 
>> I wouldn't have batted an eye if they'd been called 'scriptural' or
>> 'biblical' combs...that would doubtless have commented on the source
>> inspiration for the pictures in the carvings. But liturgical?
>> 
>> Hey, I did the SASLC entry for the manual offices, and in all
>> those baptisms and extreme unctions and such, nobody COMBED anything that
>> *I* recall.
>> 
>> No WAY I could have missed something like THAT!
>> 
>> I gotta know!
>> This is driving the Mad Liturgist ker-ay-zee! There's probably a perfectly
>> sober explanation but I'm inclined to crack up at the slightest thought of
>> them, and I know that Kendra too will be 'watching this space' to see if
>> anyone can give me a take on 'combs, liturgical'.
>> In fact, my first flippant reply had to do with antiphonal gangs of
>> monks and wax paper, producing a singular kazoo-like tonality that is
>> obviously denoted in some of my favourite neumed liturgical manuscripts...
>> certain very tremulous neums signify cantus and/or decus sections of
>> monks-on-combs to accompany the chant? the Precentor requests a special comb
>> practice just after vespers in preparation for the vigil next Saturday? we
>> have a new shipment of special Benedictine waxed paper in this morning from
>> Fleury..or the wholly-overlooked monastic occupation of making waxed paper
>> for comb that went on in an ante-chamber to the candlemakers...
>> 
>> You see what it's doing to me?
>> 
>> I'm leaving for Durham and Cambridge on the 4th for a two-week Close
>> Encounter of the ASMMFS (Microfiche Facsimile Series) Kind, so even a quick
>> private note from SOMEONE before I go...? does ANYONE out there know what a
>> liturgical comb was for...? hmm? Kendra can supply the name of the book
in which
>> the photos were found in the first place: she's <[log in to unmask]>.
>> 
>> In passing, a quick recall to the discussion of kids' books on ASE: I
>> don't think anyone mentioned Robert Westall's _The Wind Eye_, set in
>> Durham and Lindisfarne in modern times, but with time travel and St
>> Cuthbert very actively involved...even the sack of Lindisfarne and the
>> rescue of the Gospels...a lovely book, very odd and unusual. I'm leaving
>> it behind with strict instructions for my kids to read while I'm in
>> Durham (for some reason they missed it when they were the right age,
>> but it's intriguing enough for an almost 19- and almost 16-year old to
>> find it at least 'a good read': I think Katrina will like it more than
>> Matt will, but that's partly her). It's in Penguin, first published in
>> 1976.
>> 
>> My warmest wishes for 1997 to the assembled multitudes (and I remember when
>> this was just a little list) out there; may your marking be light (says
>> she, going on half-sabbatical as of Wednesday!), your students eager and
>> punctual, your research exhilarating, your colleagues understanding and
>> supportive, your tenure hearings successful, your articles accepted, your
>> publishers cooperative, and your cars always willing to start at the end of
>> the long day on campus! And may Kalamazoo be WARM this May!
>> 
>> Sarah (Keefer)
>> The Mad Liturgist still
>> off to ply her trade in the Great Seats of Learning across the Lake...
>> 
>
>



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