A Collection of 48 Peinetas Peinetas Para El Cabello (Hair Combs)
19th century (1825 – 99)
gold, silver, tortoise shell



PROVENANCE: Private collection,Binondo and Santa Cruz, Manila



When one looks closely at the female “tipos del pais” aquarelles of Damian Domingo y Gabor, Justiniano Asuncion y Molo, and their painter colleagues, one can easily discern the jewelry worn by the women, as they are so beautifully and minutely rendered. Apart from the “rosario” (“tamborin” necklace) worn under the sheer panuelo and the “aretes”/“creollas” on the ears, a ubiquitous piece of jewelry on the black hair of the women is the “peineta,” a comb of either tortoiseshell or silver with a crest of worked gold that is sometimes set with small pearls, corals, or diamonds; only the gold crest shows when worn. During the 1870s–90s, a peineta was accompanied by two “fantoches” silver hairpins with worked gold terminals “en tremblant” which moved with the wearer; only the gold terminals show when worn. The peineta was adapted from Southeast Asian and Chinese cultures. It was usually a tortoiseshell comb with a crest of 8–10 karat rose gold that was decorated with simple jewelry techniques like engraving, chasing, repousse, etc. An early variant from the last quarter of the eighteenth century (1775– 99) is a sophisticated type found in Damortis town and environs in Pangasinan province which antique dealers and agents have christened “Suklay Damortis,” a silver comb with a granulated crest shaped like “sampaloc”/tamarind or “camachile”/kamaxtli pods of high 18–20 karat gold. Manila --- specifically Binondo, Santa Cruz, and Quiapo --- was the center of jewelry making in Filipinas and produced many interesting peinetas. An early specimen is a tortoiseshell comb with an engraved gold crest featuring the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. A lavish early specimen from the last quarter of the eighteenth century (1775–99) is a silver comb with a lightly engraved, chased, repousseed high 18–22 karat gold crest featuring “hilis–kalamay” “sala–salamin” panels. Design and workmanship improved steadily in the jewelry business and outstanding pieces were produced, including peinetas with tortoiseshell or silver combs with chased and repousseed high karat gold crests set with natural Sulu pearls, Chinese red corals, semiprecious stones, and rosecut diamonds. Binan, Laguna --- a hub of prosperous Chinese traders --- produced beautiful jewelry and peinetas of high 18–22 karat gold and of exquisite quality. Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Laoag, Ilocos Norte --- centers of agricultural and mercantile wealth in the North --- also produced stunning jewelry and peinetas of high 18–22 karat gold. By the second half of the nineteenth century (1850–99), native goldsmiths and jewelers were busy designing and producing beautiful and sophisticated gold jewelry for a clientele --- urban and provincial --- that had waxed affluent from agriculture and trade.