A Once (or in this case, Twice) in a Lifetime Brass Cantle Project!

[artificer]

A number of months back I was contacted by a potential commissioner after I'd made several comments about how amazing
Henry Battenburg's sporran was and how the opportunity to make something similar would be doubly amazing.



It seems that he had a VERY vintage leopardskin vest from the ~1920s from a long departed relative, and was interested in commissioning not
one, but two brass cantled sporrans.

In the end we changed the designs of the cantles, as the commissioner didn't want the pierced hearts that Henry had. We ended up with two
distinct designs, one with a combination of Cup-and-Ring designs, and one with a more simplified design, but incorporating the scalloped edge seen on some
very old sporrans (and recreated by the MoD on their 'Culloden' cantles)

Needless to say, cutting into a now irreplaceable material was a bit stressful.

We designed two different looks as well. For the bold cup and ring cantle we went with a center cut on the pelt and black trim. Tassels capped in brass balls.

For the more antique design we went with a side cut and lighter coloured leather to more closely mimic the overall look of Henry's piece.



One very difficult issue was the outer-face trim on the cantle, the commissioner wanted to replicate way the trim curve of Henry's sporran tightly fits the face of the cantle.
This necessitated a mid-construction change, as I'd originally allocated the 'spare' material to allow the cantle opening to the back panel. This unfortunately bloused out when
the bag was closed, so I ended up having to trim the back panel and insert a small 'V' shaped gusset to better fold into the back.

Two items of note:

This is a VERY antique pelt with proper provenance. I would never condone the use of a NEW pelt of a protected animal.
Additionally, the original garment was worn and coming apart, so repurposing was one of the few options left to preserve this amazing fur.

Secondly, Please do not contact me about the possibility of securing some of this material. It is not mine and I will not 'forward' your info to
the commissioner. While this pelt is legal due to it's age and documentation I wish in no way to generate/complicate any 'protected animal' issues.

As always, constructive commentary/critique is most welcome.

ith: