useless-catalanfacts:

How artisans make the Valencian ornamental comb

I’ve added subtitles to a part of this video made by the National Museum of Ceramics And Decorative Arts “González Martí”(in València, capital city of the Valencian Country) for the temporary exhibition on Valencian combs titled “From typical to stereotypical”, dedicated to the Valencian ornamental comb.

The result is a piece like this:

Images from Del típic al tòpic. La pinta a la indumentària valenciana.

Ornamental hair combs have existed in many cultures. Probably the most famous ornamental combs word-wide are the Chinese combs (梳篦, shubi) and Spanish combs (peineta), though it has also been significant in other cultures such as Japan (櫛, kushi):

Historical images of Chinese women wearing a comb. Source: The New Hanfu. Modern-made Chinese hair accessories from CoolBee.

A Spanish comb from Mercería Rosi. Woman wearing a Spanish comb by Yolanda Luque.

Historical Japanese hairstyle with a comb in the front. Source: The Art Institute of Chicago.

Even though they’re not as internationally-famous, the Valencian combs are beautiful pieces. Chinese and Japanese combs are generally worn in front of the bun, while the Spanish combs are worn on the back of the head. The Valencian comb is never worn in front, instead they are worn on the back of the head and smaller ones can be worn on the sides of the head.

Photo of Valencian women dressed in the fallera outfit. Photo by Martin Leitch.

These combs became popular in the 18th century in the Valencian Country. In the 18th century, decorative hair combs also existed in other parts of South-West Europe, but it went out of fashion quickly everywhere except for in the Valencian Country. Here, the combs kept being in use and they evolved in their own unique way.

Since the early 19th century, it was already recognized as one of the characteristic elements of the stereotypical Valencian woman’s outfit (we know that because it became trendy for ladies in the Spanish Court to dress up as a Valencian woman for masquerades). Descriptions of the 19th century also mention how the combs were very widespread in both the city and countryside of València to be worn by women in all formal or social occasions.

Nowadays, the only occasion when women wear these combs is during holidays such as the Falles (holiday explained in this post), when some women dress in traditional outfit. There are still artisans who make the combs, following the techniques explained in the video above, since there is a pretty big industry of traditional style clothes for the Falles holidays.