A bone comb, dating back to 3500-4500 BC, is on show at the British Museum.

In the Bronze Age, 3000 BC, combs were manufactured from horn, ivory bone and bronze.

An ivory comb, dating back to 1500 BC, was discovered in Greece

Roman ladies used combs extensively.

In the 12th century comb makers formed a guild with lantern makers who used horn as a raw material.

In the 15th century, the most highly-rated comb makers were based in Limoges. They worked exclusively in ivory, boxwood and horn.

There are numerous documents from the end of the 16th century establishing the articles of association of fellow craftsmen working in horn. Their patron saint was St. Hildebert.

In the 17th century, expatriate protestants in Switzerland – who had left France as a result of the Edict of Nantes issued in 1598 – where they had learnt to make combs, returned from exile.

They settled in Ariège, where combs are still manufactured from boxwood and the wood of the service tree.

In 1737, a shortage of boxwood led to fears that the industry would disappear : horn arrived at just the right time !

The horn came from Switzerland or the Savoy region, but the best quality horn is imported from Brazil, Ireland, Paraguay, South Africa and Madagascar.

The origin of comb-making in Ariège, and more specifically the Hers Valley, dates back to the Saracen invasion and the occupation of Olmes, Plantaurel, Montségur and Affrau by people seeking refuge in these arid areas to escape the armies of Charles Martel, the Count of Toulouse and Simon de Montfort.

The first machines appeared in 1860. This was a minor revolution which craftsmen and families still working by hand were unable to resist !
Inside a horn comb factory at the beginning of the last century.

Intérieur d'une usine de peigne en corne au début du siècle dernier.

The number of workers increased each year as an increasingly greater number of factories acquired machinery, to the extent that the Hers Valley region became the most important centre in the world for horn comb production.

In 1987, Yves and Monique ROQUEFORT restored an old horn comb factory, on the banks of the River Hers – which runs through the Pays d’Olmes in Ariège – and set up several kilometres away, in Lesparrou. As lovers of tradition, they have relaunched this old factory.

Our workshop in LESPARROU, before the acquisition in 1987

Between 1989 and 1997, Monique welcomed an average of more than 20,000 visitors a year, revealing to them, with love and enthusiasm, the wonders of this ancestral trade, a genuine part of our country’s heritage.

In 1990, at the Salon du Peigne et de l'Ornement de Coiffure - SPOC – (comb and hair decoration trade fair) in Oyonnax [Ain], they discovered that one of their clients, a manufacturer of tableware in the Jura, was about to cease trading. They decided to buy its equipment and fundamental expertise in order to diversify production and begin manufacturing tableware themselves. Shortly afterwards they expanded to cover razors, shaving brushes and ornaments : birds, ships and any other items required by their clients.

In 1998, unable to obtain permission to extend their Lesparrou workshop, Yves and Monique decided to relocate their business in Revel, in the Haute-Garonne, where they have continued the tradition to this day.

The « La Licorne » workshop in Revel currently operates with a staff of 4, producing an extensive range of horn products.