OBJECTS Ornament Hair comb, c. 1900 Vocational School in Turnov Silver, tortoiseshell, Bohemian garnets, chalcedony; height 12.4 cm In the 1880s, the Vocational School in Turnov was established in response to the region’s rich gemstone tradition. The school’s curriculum was soon expanded to include a course in goldsmithing and jewellery-making. The students’ works of the early 20th century are highly distinctive in style, featuring the fundamental themes of Art Nouveau symbolism. The silver crown of the tortoiseshell comb combines the motif of a girl’s head encircled with flowers and the theme of a Medusa, whose face is framed with intertwined snake bodies. The snakes’ heads directed toward the snow-white face are also allusions to the theme of Cleopatra’s death. The butterfly wings, with the snakes coiled around them, play a two-fold role. Despite the object being somewhat incongruous in form and style, the allusion to the struggle between youth and death is visually truly impressive.