The offered brush, comb and mirror emanate from Marilyn Monroe's Hollywood make-up artist Allan "Whitey" Snyder. Snyder's relationship with Marilyn stretched from her very first screen test in 1946 until her death in 1962. He was her personal make-up artist, and anytime you see Marilyn in a chair on a set for almost any movie she did, there's Allan right beside her perfecting the make-up and look that helped create the legend. This group of silver plated, lavishly designed brush, comb and mirror have an ornate floral motif, and appear to be from the late 1940s or perhaps a bit earlier.
The pieces were acquired from make-up artist Allan Snyder on the set of a music video in 1985, by hair stylist Emanuel Millar. Both men were working on a video that was an elaborate parody of the TV show I Love Lucy for the band The Manhattan Transfer. The song was the Count Basie classic "Blee Bop Blues," and Snyder was charged with doing hair and make-up to turn singer Cheryl Bentyne into Lucille Ball. Mr. Millar's accompanying letter details the day and how Mr. Snyder gave him the hair brush, comb and make-up mirror. The letter reads in part:
I was just starting out in my career in hair and makeup, and I found Mr. Snyder's stories about working in Hollywood for more than 40 years just fascinating. He showed me a locket that he wore that contained a lock of Marilyn Monroe's hair. He had snipped it off while doing her makeup on the set of “Some Like it Hot” and had always kept it. We hit it off during the production of the music video, and before we left that day, Mr. Snyder said he wanted me to have this hair brush, comb and mirror set that he used when doing Marilyn's makeup every time they worked together. I was touched. It was a wonderful gesture.
The pieces were later acquired by Dave Elkouby, owner of "The Hollywood Show" in Los Angeles, an autograph, movie poster and movie memorabilia show that has been running for more than 40 years. Each piece comes with its own certificate of authenticity confirming Elkouby acquired the set from Mr. Millar.
Known as "Whitey" to Marilyn and other friends, Snyder's close friendship with Marilyn has been well-documented. He can be seen in dozens (if not hundreds) of images with her during her career. One story goes that she actually asked Whitey to do her make-up if she passed away before him. Tragically, he was able to keep that promise after Marilyn died in 1962, and he prepared her make-up one last time and was a pall bearer at her funeral.
A good deal of Marilyn Monroe's clothing and affects have surfaced over the years, but there may not be a more personal group of items so closely related to the actual creation of her beauty, her "look," her iconic stature than the offered trio of grooming implements. A rare opportunity for the serious collector. The pieces show signs of heavy use, but they have been meticulously cared for and present with little in the way of distresses or damage. The mirror measures 9 1/2 x 5 inches, the brush measures 8 x 2 3/4 inches, and the comb measures 7 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches. Near Mint condition.