Metal Cantles for Day Sporrans

[JSFMACLJR]

I'm afraid I slightly hijacked the interesting thread on hair sporrans as daywear, with my posts about metal cantles:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/h...x.html?t=55861

For those who might be interested in the appropriateness of such sporrans for day wear, you can check out the photos in that thread!

[Chas]

I can't quite make it out - is that fur or suede?

Regards

Chas

[JSFMACLJR]

I can't quite make it out - is that fur or suede?

Regards

Chas

Well, that's suede...but I posted the wrong link! Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Sandy,

Thanks for posting those wonderful photos. Here's a better shot of the one being worn by the MacGregor. I had the pleasure of seeing Sir Malcolm wear this sporran at the Stone Mountain games in 2008 and he allowed me to take this photo.


I have a brass cantled sporran I also enjoy wearing.

[Semiomniscient]

I know this is a few months old now... but I've been looking at acquiring cantles for future sporran making. I do grow tired of the celtic knots--I greatly admire the MacGregor's sporran, especially its beautiful floral design. I also admire yours Matt for it's simplicity. I prefer both of these MUCH more than the typical metal cantles.

[Cynthia]

I greatly admire the MacGregor's sporran, especially its beautiful floral design. I also admire yours Matt for it's simplicity.

They are very beautiful cantles, and they definitely stand out from most modern cantles (I think those are lovely as well, but hopefully you know what I mean).

[OC Richard]

I suppose it's splitting hairs, or trying to be too historically aware, but the above photos are showing an antique 18th century sporran and a modern reproduction of same.

These were worn long before the modern categories of "day dress" and "evening dress" came into being.

In the natural course of evolution, that type of sporran was commonly made of fur by the end of the 18th century, the fur getting longer and longer in the early decades of the 19th century, and becoming the fullblown long goathair/horsehair sporran by the 1830's or so.

I can't find any images of the modern "day wear sporran", that is, a leather pocket with flap and usually having three tassels, predating the early 20th century.


I'm not sure when they started sticking metal eveningwear sporran cantles on these "day" sporrans- the old (1920-1940) catalogues I've seen (not nearly enough of them for my liking) just show the plain brown leather pocket. When I got into wearing Highland Dress in the 70's the catalogues still maintained a fairly rigid distinction between day and evening sporrans, but some day sporrans did have metal evening cantles stuck on, looking like an afterthought. 18th century sporrans didn't appear in these catalogues- to get one you had to go to a boutique maker like Alexander Robertson in Inverness, who I visited in 1986.

In The Highlanders Of Scotland only one of the 56 kilted men is wearing a leather sporran, that being an antique 18th century sporran. So, none are wearing sporrans resembling the modern evening and day sporrans, but are wearing either long hair sporrans (46 of the 56 men, including 16 men wearing plain tweed day jackets) or animal mask style sporrans. (The only exceptions are that two of the animal mask style sporrans lack the face, but are otherwise the same, being rather larger than our modern fur evening sporrans, and the single c1810 antique sporran.)