Antique Shaving / Cosmetic Brushes, Possibly Chinese (Set of 2)
Who knew there is a collector’s market for tiny shaving brushes? Granted, these are unusual ones if they are shaving brushes. We realized they could also be cosmetic brushes. Both however usually have much more hair than ours do.
One of ours appears to be a well worn magenta and pale pink orange enameled wood piece, the other a tightly wrapped sheath of wood slats or leaves, bound by tightly tied twine with a light coating of enamel. Both appear handmade and more Asian than American or European.
If Chinese or Japanese, these would date back to the 1920s or 1930s when the Burr sisters travelled to the region on their world tours.
The colored enameled piece has a crack in the side and a tuft of hair rising above the rest on top, as well as an aged string at the base. The wood piece appears to be in very good vintage condition. Please see photos.
Larger enameled colored brush: H 1 3/4” x W 1/2”
Smaller wood / twine brush: H 1 3/8” x W 5/8”
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know