A remnant from the era when people grain painted boxes and furniture, originally in order to emulate the appearance of more expensive woods, this is a set of eight pre-Civil War wood graining hand combs made by Henry Taylor Co., Sheffield, England. As found, in their original case with partial paper label remaining, and with eight of what I believe was an original set of 12 combs is present, representing three different sizes with various degrees of fineness. I love these not just as great looking, wonderfully graphic objects (with a nice weight to them too), but also as mark making tools that could be put to use once again in all sorts of ways. I also love the design of the case, which is divided into sections to separate each size of comb, and into which they slide in quite a satisfying way. Grain painting was done with vinegar and different color stains and/or tinted lacquers, using these combs to rake the surfaces creating wood grain effects and variegated color on the wood surfaces.
8 combs - largest 4" x 3 5/8". Case: 5 5/8 x 3 3/4 x 3/8. Substantial, with a nice weight to them. One comb shows show a little loss, and the face of the case shows rusting and no lid, but overall good antique condition and the combs, while showing a little surface rust/staining (heightened in photos) are clean and completely usable.
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