The peinetón (plural: peinetones) is a large, decorative comb that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina and became very fashionable among its female inhabitants as well as those of Montevideo, Uruguay between the late 1820s and the mid to late 1830s. Although its origin can be traced back to the traditional Spanish peineta, the peinetón derived into a different headpiece altogether, both for its physical characteristics as well as for the symbolic meanings around its use. The peineta was introduced to Buenos Aires around 1815 and, as early as 1824, interest began to grow in larger and more elaborate models, eventually giving rise to the peinetón that had its heyday between 1830 and 1837. The accessory emerged during the Romantic era of Western fashion, and was worn alongside dresses with small waists and large, voluminous sleeves.
Peinetones were defined by their extravagant size, measuring up to in height and width at the height of their popularity.Saulquin, 2006. p. 43 They were typically made out of tortoiseshell, although the cheaper horn was also common, particularly when the former was in short supply. The tortoiseshell was imported as pieces or plates, which were cut, heat-fused, fretworked, chiseled and polished by craftsmen in the city's workshops, sometimes also being printed and inlaid. The design of each peinetón was unique and tailored to the tastes of each woman. The one-piece accessory had a slightly convex body, it came in a variety of different shapes and featured profuse ornamentation with designs inspired by nature and Neoclassicism.
The trend was unique to the Río de la Plata, serving as a way to differentiate from Spanish culture and becoming a defining feature of porteño women for both locals and foreigners. As such, it represents a moment of interest for Argentine fashion historians, and is associated with a growing sense of national identity in post-colonial Argentina, which had declared independence in 1816 and was undergoing a series of bloody civil wars between Federalists and Unitarians. The development of the fashion mainly took place during the rule of the Federalist Juan Manuel de Rosas, a time in which clothing became increasingly codified to demonstrate political adherence to the regime. In fact, the use of the peinetón was eventually associated with Federalist women, with models often featuring effigies of Rosas and political slogans of the party.
The peinetón had a great impact on the porteño society of the time, which led to an intense literary, graphic, artistic and journalistic production both for and against the accessory. Due to the high cost of tortoiseshell and its elaborate manufacture, the headpiece became a luxury item that served as a symbol of prestige among the elite, although women of lower social classes also aspired to own one. Several modern authors consider that the peinetón served as a way for women to burst in and reaffirm themselves in public space, at a time when they were heavily relegated to domestic life.
Name and characteristics
The peinetón is a one-piece headdress with a slightly convex body, with both sides fretworked and profusely decorated. It is made up of two well-differentiated parts: the comb, which fulfills the functional role of securing the peinetón to the hair, and the field, the visible area that features the ornamentation. According to fashion historian Regina A. Root, peinetones "could have from six to fourteen teeth and weigh 1.65 pounds (750 grams)". They were typically made out of tortoiseshell, although the cheaper bull's horn was also used, particularly when the former was in short supply. Ivory, nacre and silver were also used to a lesser extent. In the General Archive of the Nation there are numerous inventories of pulperías where peinetones made of talco () are also mentioned. There are no known references as to the material they are referring to, although it may have been some kind of plaster.
The term peinetón comes from peineta (a traditional Spanish headpiece), which itself comes from peine (English: "comb"). The word originated in Argentina and is unlikely to be found in Spanish-language dictionaries, such as the Royal Spanish Academy's Diccionario de la lengua española, which only includes the word peineta. It is an augmentative, resulting from adding the suffix -ón to the word peineta. According to Root, peinetón "might translate into English as something more elaborate than a 'grandiose comb'."
The accessory was called peineta and peinetón interchangeably, while the local English-language newspaper The British Packet, and Argentine News simply used the word "comb" for both. According to the written and iconographic sources of the time, the peineta had fallen into disuse during the popularity of the peinetón, so it is understood that when they use the word peineta they are actually referring to the peinetón. However, today these two names are well differentiated by Argentine modern museum cataloging, which defines the categories of peineta (measuring less than 28 cm.), small peinetones (measuring between 28 and 35 cm.) and peinetones (measuring more than 35 cm.).
According to their shape, historian Horacio Botalla classified peinetones as oval, bell-shaped, rod-shaped and trapezoidal, with the first two being the ones that "allowed for more narrative designs". Judging by the lithographs of the time, most women opted for the trapeze-like style. In terms of ornamentation, Botalla pointed out that they include plant and animal motifs typical of Neoclassicism. For her part, researcher Serafina Perri differentiated the French neoclassical style from the "organic" style. The former includes "pearls, frets, meanders, lozenges, ovas, waves, palmettes, scrolls, grids, ribbons, loops, spirals, seed beads, feathers, glasses, baskets, musical instruments, acanthus leaves, firebrands, Phrygian caps, initials, inscriptions and names"; while the latter represents "elements taken from nature, phytomorph motifs, leaves and flowers, roses, daisies, sunflowers, poppies, even a tree of life (in [Buenos Aires'] Saavedra Museum collection) and zoomorphs, butterflies, birds and dragonflies."
Origin
There are not enough sources to determine when the peinetón emerged or if it had an inventor. Its origin is commonly attributed to manufacturer Manuel Mateo Masculino, including fashion sociologist Susana Saulquin in her 2006 book Historia de la moda argentina. Nevertheless, other authors have rejected the idea that a single designer invented the peinetón, with researcher Susan Hallstead pointing out that it "was a product established and made popular by elite females, for females." For her part, Root also told Página/12 in 2013: "We cannot affirm that Masculino was the creator of the peineton as we know it, but it is clear that he was its major disseminator. It is most likely that the peinetón was a creation of the market and competition." Masculino was responsible for many of the most popular designs for the accessory and quickly promoted himself in the press when he launched new models.
Masculino was born in 1797 in Spain and arrived to Buenos Aires in 1823, as local newspaper Argos de Buenos Aires stated on April 16 of that year: "Manuel Masculino, manufacturer of ivory combs and tortoiseshell peinetas of various tastes, has arrived in this city to stay. Masculino offers the machines of his invention for mass production of combs." It can be inferred that he also lived for some time in Montevideo, since his children María and Encarnación Masculino were born there in 1830 and 1831 respectively. Masculino opened his first store in 1825—two years after his arrival to Buenos Aires—and was soon imitated by other businessmen such as Custodio Peis, Martín Suárez and Salvador Videla.
Its origin goes back to the traditional Spanish peineta, which was introduced to the Río de la Plata around 1815.
As early as 1824, a special interest in creating and crafting ever larger and more extravagant peinetas began.
Some modern authors point out that the peinetón actually derived from the tall and ornate hairstyles that appeared in French fashion plates, including the chignon style and the tortoiseshell combs known as peigne "a la girafe". These combs became popular in Paris in 1827, after the giraffe Zarafa—a gift from Muhammad Ali of Egypt to King Charles X of France—arrived to Paris and unleashed a fashion influenced by the animal, including hairstyles. Nevertheless, the accessory was more likely a synthesis of both the Spanish and French styles, with Hallstead describing it as a result of transculturation and an "Argentine product that reconciles complete cultural independence and blatant imitation." She further noted that: While the peinetón was not derived from any indigenous article of clothing, it was however, a product formed from several exterior sources (particularly Spanish and French) and modified in the Argentine context. Perhaps the peinetón could best be understood as an Argentine example of "selective appropriation" [...] whereby certain markers or products considered "modern" (because of their West European origins) are appropriated by colonial and post-colonial peripheries in an attempt to "appear" transformed while maintaining—or in the case of Argentina, creating—a certain sense of individuality from colonial imposition.
Production and manufacture
The production of the peinetón was concentrated in the commercial area located in the surroundings of the Plaza de la Victoria (known today as the Plaza de Mayo), the main axis of the city. There were located the businesses dedicated exclusively to the sale of peinetones, as well as those that had other items but still sold the accessory. Peinetones could be bought directly from the manufacturers in their factory or in their commercial premises, but also in multi-purpose and convenience stores and, in their heyday, it is recorded that they were even sold in a furniture store and in a crockery store.
Although it cannot be certain that the peinetón involved an industrial mode of production, some elements may suggest it, including the large volume of production, the division of labour and the use and improvement of machinery that would allow greater production in less time. A large number of combs were exported abroad, as indicated by the records of cargo ships published in The British Packet, and Argentine News, an English-language weekly newspaper edited by the British community in Buenos Aires. In fact, Perri suggests that the peinetón could be considered the first Argentine manufacture to be exported, contradicting the widespread idea that this did not happen until the arrival of the so-called "agro-export model" decades later: If we consider that at that time all exports consisted exclusively of raw materials, tallow, jerky, ostrich feathers, dried cow skins, chinchilla, otter, wood, antlers, sugar, salt, etc., this export is an extraordinary fact because it was the first Argentine manufactured product to be sent abroad long before the so-called agro-export model of the late 19th century promoted the export of frozen meat and wheat as the only production that could be exported. This model did not take into account, did not recognize or did not care to consider that a manufactured product, the peinetón, could have been shipped abroad long before refrigerated meat in 1868. The result of this divorce could be the best explanation for the absence of the peinetón from the list of technical productions, the most significant activities of the city, artisanal productions, small industries or artistic creations.