Very curious indeed, Richard.



I've definitely handled fewer antique sporrans than you, I'd be interested in your thoughts on the following areas (in addition to the grommets and crude manufacture you've already mentioned)

A) given the crudeness of some of the other work, the stitching in the highlighted area appears extremely nice and even.

B) VERY bad pattern consistency in the pinked trim. This is true for both the saddle brown area and the larger tan area below.

C) The purse-clasp closure on the sporran top. I've NEVER seen this on a sporran of any age. It makes me wonder if someone simply made a bag for an old set of purse-lips.

D) Given the very fine nature of the metalwork (if this were attempted by hand and not a later machine-made trim) the cantle trim (brown leather below the metal with the orangey-brown thread) seems gross and indelicate. Also, the seam running right through the center of the trim reads wrong to me.

I won't discuss the condition of the tassel hair, as that could be symptomatic of either poor care through the years, heavy wear, or a very shoddy job at hand-make. Without seeing them in person it's hard to say- ALTHOUGH I will say that I'd expect to see the most wear on the tassels that hang below the sporran (to get knocked about). This one appears to have the most wear on the RSF.