Qajar Comb with a Fish, from Persia

• country - Persia
• materials - carved and painted wood, openwork
• object - comb
• object date - early 19th Century
• source - Kajetan Fiedorowicz

Qajars were a Turkish-speaking minority with pastoral and nomadic lives based in Northern Persia. From the 18th to the beginning of the 20th Century, they created an original style of Persian arts and crafts by incorporating Indian and Chinese ideas into the traditions of Ancient Persia. Their comb designs reveal a unique skill, expertise, way of life, poetry, and spirituality.(Adapted from the Creative Museum exhibition, From the Ottomans to the Qajars)

In Ancient Persia, water was a sanctified element, along with earth, wind, and fire. The fish symbolized water and was connected with Anahita, the Goddess of water. Consequently, fish were symbols of life, fertility and blessing. Flowers added prosperity and happiness.