Seal skin sporran

[craigclan]

Is there a way to tell if a sporran is really seal skin or an offshore copy . I traded a kilt for a belt , hose and what he said was a seal skin sporran image.jpg

[artificer]

it's hard to tell from that particular pic, but offhand I'd say it looks a lot more like a rabbitskin than seal.
You generally see seal with a very straight grain, glassy hair.
Seal also doesn't have a 'ground' hair like you'd see on land mammals, so if you can brush the guard (top) hair aside and you see a dense greyish fur underneath it's probably not seal.

Can you get a close-to shot of the hair?

ith:

[craigclan]

Here is a pic of the hair and inside . The hair is all the same colour no grey undertones

[Theyoungkiltman]

with some of the stuff i have heard, i would nae be surprised if it was cat!

[briansbarkery]

I am no expert but I didn't think seal fur was that long. I have always thought it was about the same length as a cow, hence the reason they use cow now to look like seal since seal hunting is illegal and impossible to ship through customs.

[OC Richard]

As people have said, that looks too long.

For people who have seen, handled, and owned large numbers of sealskin sporrans they're very easy to identify in person, and usually easy to identify in a photo. Yours is curious, there.

Sealskin has a distinctive look which I'm struggling to find words to describe. The hair is short and straight and has an odd distinctive almost metallic gleam, slightly reminiscent of a wire brush (I'm thinking of the grey seal).

I have seen that yellowish-offwhite seal that's a bit longer and fluffier, especially on vintage sporrans (it was very popular back in the 1930s etc).

Thing is, there's probably a large number of different species all with different fur. It's just that in the sporran world you see that metallic grey seal over and over and you start to equate that particular fur with 'seal'.

[Mel1721L]

I have trouble trying to justify the wearing of anything leather, there is no way I could use sealskin anything.

[artificer]

I have trouble trying to justify the wearing of anything leather, there is no way I could use sealskin anything.

Without getting too off topic, leather is a byproduct of the beef industry. about 2 billion people are going to have to give up hamburgers before there are any 'ethical issues' with sourcing cowhide.

At one point there was a plan for Scottish makers to use Inuit harvested seal, as their hunt is part of their cultural heritage and the seal used for food. I cannot find out what happened to
that plan, but the EU (like the US) has banned all regular commercial trade in seal.

ith:

[Mel1721L]

Without getting too off topic, leather is a byproduct of the beef industry. about 2 billion people are going to have to give up hamburgers before there are any 'ethical issues' with sourcing cowhide.

At one point there was a plan for Scottish makers to use Inuit harvested seal, as their hunt is part of their cultural heritage and the seal used for food. I cannot find out what happened to
that plan, but the EU (like the US) has banned all regular commercial trade in seal.

ith:

It is a misconception that leather comes from beef cattle, it comes from cattle bred for the purpose as I understand it. However this could get too political and ruin the original post.

[artificer]

It is a misconception that leather comes from beef cattle, it comes from cattle bred for the purpose as I understand it. However this could get too political and ruin the original post.

I'm afraid you're incorrect.

I'm going to break it down so that this thread is not left dangling with a common misunderstanding of the leather industry.

The VAST majority of cowhide leather produced is a byproduct of the beef industry. There is a microscopic share of the leather market where the cattle are bred and raised with an eye to their hides as premium leathers. This takes place primarily in Scandinavia, and it's worth noting that the cattle are still consumed- it's just that the primary focus is different (leather versus beef).

What you see in leather qualities (and therefore cost) is a direct reflection of the cost of raising the animals and the environmental exposures they are subject to.
The least expensive leathers and beef- (aka McDonalds) comes from areas like the plains of South America (Argentina). The cattle mostly forage and the hides are fairly heavily marked
with things like bug bites, brands, and the scars from minor injuries sustained while out and about.
Most of these leathers are unsuitable for use in a natural state so they are given an artificial texture (pressed in during finishing with very heavy hot rollers) and very heavy topcoat.

The next tier of leathers comes from animals in the mid-latitudes (Germany, the Upper Mid-West of the US). These cattle are sheltered in inclement weather, and are generally speaking better cared for.
The hides are naturally better (less extreme sun exposure, better food) and tend to have fewer scars from bites and other things (although there is still quite a bit of variation in quality).
The lower quality hides are given the same treatments as above (regrained and topcoated) but the better quality can be used in their natural state with a FULL grain (uncorrected) and only
the natural aniline dyes. Prices obviously will go up as the quality does.

The best cowhides are ones from the Scandinavian programs I mentioned at the start. They are essentially flawless, can be grain shrunk (in the tanning process the hides aren't stretched as much as a normal leather
would be, which results in a VERY defined grain and thick but supple hand. It's rare to see any of these hides with anything other than an aniline dye. They are as 'pure' as leathers get.

I worked in the leather industry for quite a long time.

ith: