Edwardian Sporran

[tombanwell]

A few days ago at a consignment shop I purchased what first appeared to be a sporran. Upon closer inspection I found that it is not a pouch as it should be, but a flat piece of leather with a belt loop on the back. The back is a full grain leather and on the front some kind of soft reddish fur. The sporran measures 8" (20cm) high by 5½" (15cm) wide. I can date it to 1901 - 1910 from the brass cypher of Edward VII on the top. It has two tassles with what appears to be sheepskin.

Sold along with it (although I don't know that they go together) is pin with a gold and pearl and diamond (presumably all fake) Maltese cross on black velvet and four ermine tails (there may have originally been five).

Can anyone give me any information on these pieces and who might have worn them?

[artificer]

For continuities' sake, I'm posting what I told Tom on another forum, perhaps Figheadair or another historian might have more info.

"Nice find Tom!

From the photo (which can be misleading) I'd say the fur is probably Red Deer (the hunting of which is a traditional Scottish pass-time of the landed gentry).

By the mid 1800's (Victorian times) the sporran had evolved from it's roots as a purse/pouch to something essentially ornamental. The sporrans of that time would either have a small envelope pocket on the back of the bag, similar to below Or would be exactly as you have there, just a panel.



What I do find a little unusual is the "whip stitch" holding on the edge trim. It was far more common to see a linear stitch (as pictured above) which IS used on the rolled edge of the cantle top on yours.


Material, age, and style-wise, I'd say it's authentic.

That said, there is a recurring theme of re-purposing Scottish goods (thift) which might account for the re-badging of the sporran (or for the purposes of deception/sale, someone has re-badged it to make it a sporran with some HISTORY).

I've not been able to find a picture of Edward VII in that particular sporran, but he is photographed in a decent number of other ones, so it's entirely possible it WAS one of his.

Edit: I did mean to say that the tassle cords appear "off" for some reason. They look far too new for the rest of the piece. It may be that a repair was needed (but I'd expect a Royal repair to have been done better with less dangling excess left) or it may be that the tassels aren't original and this piece has been cobbled together from multiple sources-
with the bag being ERA authentic, the tassels being authentic and the badge authentic, but it not being authentically royal."


"
Tom,
the Red Deer is more like the N. American Elk than a white tail deer. It may be the age of the hair, but it doesn't look like fox to me, it's lacking the very soft groundcoat (underfur) that I'd associate with fox. I suppose it could be muskrat, which is quite a traditional fur for sporrans as well.

Regarding the badge, a clever lad can flex the front face of the cantle outward to make enough of a gap to fit a washer and cotter pin or other connecting system in without disassembling the whole piece.

I didn't notice the pin holes until you mentioned them. After re-examining the pictures, I'd place money on the cantle (or at least the trim) having been repaired or replaced. AND since the trim and it's understitch are the only connections between the cantle and the body of the sporran, it's entirely possible that the WHOLE piece has been cobbled together, cantle, badge, tassels, and body. Of course, it could just be that the trim had worn down over time and needed replacing.

Either way, it's a very cool vintage piece, I wish we were geographically closer, I'd love to look at it in person."