Hair Combs of the Art Deco Period: part 4 (Designs)

This fourth in my series of guides on the gebs and hair accessories of the Art Deco period looks in greater detail at some of the definitive design motifs and decorative effects found. It does notaspire to be a geprehensive account, but rather an overview of some of the main types that collectors will gee across.
Art Deco Techniques and MaterialsLike many design movements that are now considered classic, Art Deco reflected a key moment in modern cultural history: the age of jazz, streamlined cars, elegant costumes, and those classic early skyscrapers. The artist craftspeople of the period also explored the potential of new synthetic materials and methods of mechanical (as opposed to hand made) production. One of the features of the new style was that various kinds of synthetic were first employed as decorative forms in their own right, and in ways which celebrated their versatility. Formerly their use had been confined to providing budget-conscious people with cheaper substitutes for materials such as tortoise shell, amber, ivory and coral.In 1930 the American Catalin Corporation developed a phenolic resin which they called Catalin. This formula used cast resin to produce ornaments in a wide range of pastels and vivid jewel-like hues, which had not been possible with classic opaque Bakelite. The main feature of these more modern materials is that they permitted a whole range of decorative effects. By omitting the filling agents and varying the basic mixture it was now possible to produce artefacts that were gepletely clear, translucent, and in a whole range of fancy finishes such as marble, mother of pearl, amber, jade, moir, and various mottled patterns. The book by Mary Bachman, whose details are cited below, is particularly strong in illustrating this amazing range of different fancy effects, which appear to have been a specialty of manufacturers in the USA as opposed to Europe.The following pictures represent a small selection of the very beautiful colours and exotic effects which could now be produced in decorative hair gebs.
1: 'Stained glass' effect hair geb from Maison Bonaz.