Comb

Previously inscribed with "E.H.V. 1864. Haida, British Columbia" in ink. D. G. Young had said it was from the "Verity" collection, however Alan Hoover suggests the comb is from the Verney Collection, as other pieces from that collection are marked similarly. The initials "E.H.V." would stand for Edmund Hope Verney, who was the captain of the gunboat HMS Grappler in British Columbia c. 1862-1864. The collection of Northwest Coast artifacts assembled by Verney was purchased by Harry Beasley, in London in 1931, from Sir Harry Verney. The majority of the collection was obtained by the British Museum in 1944, but some pieces apparently had either been traded into the collection of John Scott Young–a surveyor in BC in the late 1800s--who later took his collection back to London, or perhaps into the collection of Mr. D. G. Young, his son, at a later date?

Comb with fourteen teeth and a large head area. The head is decorated with a bear design on one side; ovoids and split U design on the other.