Traditional sporran canon with examples

[OC Richard]

In a thread a while back I posted scans of a tri-fold leaflet or brochure that a number of Scottish sporranmakers in the 1960s through 1980s used to accompany their price list. The photos show the range of sporran styles available. The sporrans have curious codes printed beneath.

I don't know when or by whom these iconic photos were taken, or who devised the codes. But when I worked for a Highland Outfitter in the 1980s we carried William E Scott & Son (Edinburgh) sporrans, and we ordered off a price list and these photos.

During the period I worked there we received price lists from a number of Scottish sporranmakers and each was accompanied by the same tri-fold photo leaflet.

It was as if the sporran styles contained on this leaflet were a canon of sorts, in effect. One could go to Games after Games here, Burns Supper after Burns Supper, and never see a sporran that wasn't on these pages save for the occasional antique.

Anyhow I thought I would post pages of the leaflet accompanied by photos of some of the sporrans shown "in the flesh". I hope this will be interesting to somebody. The photos are of sporrans which have been offered for sale on Ebay over the years.



The cantles were of differing nature. Some were very high quality silverplated things made of separate pieces.

Here is the cantle used on the sporrans called EW2 and EW4 in the photo above. It is silver plated and stamped Made In Scotland. It's made of five pieces: cantle, knob, and three bosses. The bosses are held on by threaded posts and nuts.



Here is sporran EW2. Note the cones for the tassels



Here is the cantle called "G" in the photo above. It's also a high quality detailed silverplate item. These were also stamped Made In Scotland. The sporran below corresponds to the one in the photo called EW4/G/B (Evening Wear 4, G cantle, black rabbit fur). This sporran was extremely popular amongst pipe bands around here in the 1990s and 2000s.



Here is EW4/5, an extraordinarily fine example, white seal body with dark grey seal tassels, the metalwork silver plated, the cantle stamped Made In Scotland, the back stamped Made In Scotland/Real Leather. It's probably the work of W E Scott & Son, Edinburgh, perhaps from the 1950s.



Here is the sporran called EW6/G in the photo above, made by W E Scott & Son, Edinburgh



Another example. You can see the high quality of the silver-plated cantle. These were usually stamped Made In Scotland on one side.



EW3 has a pierced cantle, chrome plated, and made up of five separate pieces. These, as I recall, weren't stamped.



EW1 and HS/T/B (Hunting Sporran/Targe/Black) use a different top, with the bosses integral to the cantle. As I recall these were chrome plated and not stamped.

Here is EW1



Another example of EW1 in this case the cantle appears to be silver-plated



Here's the same cantle done up in brass, on a brown Hunting Sporran, by W E Scott & Son Edinburgh. The Hunting Sporran in the leaflet above is black with the same top done up in chrome.

[OC Richard]

Page two.



Here's EW4/A/T (Targe). Note the detailed high-quality silverplate cantle, which would have been stamped Made In Scotland on the side.



Here is EW5. This is the most ancient sporran decoration motif, in all probability, the "Goddess Eyes"



Another example of EW5, this time with only three tassels, in cones, and shown with the en suite buckle



Here's sporran EW6/D (diamond?) in the photo. Sadly this example is missing its tassels. You can see the wonderful detail on the cantle, which was silver-plated and stamped Made In Scotland as I recall.



Is this EW6/T (Thistle)? Can't make out exactly what the cantle looks like in the photo, but I have seen this traditional cantle many times.



Here is EW7/H. I don't know what the H stands for, but the top is similar to that of the horsehair sporrans of The Atholl Highlanders. These pentagonal cantles were very popular in the latter half of the 19th century and many examples are to be seen in The Highlanders Of Scotland.



EW7/T (Thistle). This recent example has a cast cantle. The example I bought used in the 1970s has the same pattern, but cut out of a heavy sheet of silver, then engraved.



This vintage example, by WE Scott Edinburgh, is interesting in that it lacks the crown.



Here's EW7/J. I don't know what the "J" stands for.

[OC Richard]

Page 3. A bit more luck finding examples.



Here are two examples of AZD/S. Don't know what AZD stands for, but "S" is probably "seal"



Note this one has a stud closure rather than a snap



Here is AZSF/3, a particularly lovely example. I have no idea what AZSF stands for.



Here is AZSF/2, the style typical of W E Scott & Son and other Scottish makers of the 1980s



Here's BT (Black, Targe?)



Here's another BT but lacking the studs. Note that sometime the flap is a separate piece, sometimes it's curved over without a seam



Here's the same style but in brown

[OC Richard]

Page 4. I don't think I've ever seen the style called SS below, in the flesh.



AZSF/S/2 made by Nicoll Bros Bankfoot; note the gusset is seal-covered unlike in the leaflet above



CBSF/D, this example is stamped Made In Scotland Real Leather in an oval on the back, quite common to see.



Here's BT/SC in the flesh



Here's HS (Hunting Sporran)

[ASinclair]

Very interesting Richard. Gorgeous photos. I wonder why full mask, horse hair, and goat hair sporrans were non-canonical?

ETA: Looks like you're still updating. I now see a full mask sporran.

[OC Richard]

Page 5.



Here's 8BS. Does BS stand for Boy Scout? Note the distinctive flat-ish leather cones on the tassels. A very similar style was worn by officers of the Argylls.



Here's BF. Note that the flap appears to have some sort of padding or stuffing inside, anyhow it's puffed out a bit.



Not quite sure what the difference is between SM, STM, and 8GSP above, but here's the style, the plain brown Day sporran par excellence; this style was my first sporran c1975. Looks like SM has a pigskin appearance and STM seems to be brown, like the one below.



STM seems to have extra tooling in between the lines. Here's the flap, however this example has a seal face, a style not seen in the folio. The tooling almost looks like tiny Tudor Roses.



GTSF

[Dughlas mor]

Very interesting post, Richard. The brass cantled hunting sporran and AZSF/3 are two that I would not mind owning at all. The cantle in the last photo is just really cool.

[MacGumerait]

Richard ,

Not sure if this matches one of your catalog examples .

Here is a 1970 sporran that was given to me as a gift in 1970 . ( yes this dates me , but hey I was only 14 at the time )

It was purchased from Jack Ironside , silver plated cantle and seal skin .



Still in use today . ( current pic )

Cheers , Mike

[Mael Coluim]

Very interesting, OC! Thanks for sharing.

[Manxstralian]

I just picked up a PS 6" sporran in Tasmania, is there any way to accurately (or even approximately) date them?
Details I can provide; it's a purely decorative (no pouch) sporran, with horse hair over what I'm taking to be goat skin, "Made In Scotland" stamped in the back, but no marks in the metalwork to show maker, or production date.
I'm not sure I'll ever wear it, but for $45 it was too good to pass up.

Cheers,

Cameron