Unusual Gordon Highlanders' sporran

[creagdhubh]

Well there you go and what a coincidence. If that wasn't coincidence enough have a look at this which is possible the portrait mentioned. It appears that that was the 92nd sporran style in the early 1800s and so possibly, probably?, the original style for the regiment.

Very intriguing!

[R.S.Buff]

Thanks for posting those great pics. My friends who reenact 42nd Highlander 1815 did research on the sporrans and that looks correct. They were made from goat hair, some regiments used white, some gray. I have a gray goat hair coat from the 70's that I kept to make military sporrans with. It is same color as the 92nd one. This is a photo of the 42nd reproduction sporran that they made last year.


figheadair might recognize the tartan cloth in the photo's kilt as he made it. At this time sporrans were for dress uniforms and not known to be worn in battle. Many of the paintings of Waterloo were painted 1830's to 1850's and the artists used the current uniforms of their times like the horsehair sporrans in the Quartre Bras painting .

[figheadair]

figheadair might recognize the tartan cloth in the photo's kilt as he made it. At this time sporrans were for dress uniforms and not known to be worn in battle. Many of the paintings of Waterloo were painted 1830's to 1850's and the artists used the current uniforms of their times like the horsehair sporrans in the Quartre Bras painting .

I did indeed. Looking good and so much nicer in Wilsons' shades.

[OC Richard]

Yes the sporrans of the early 19th century hadn't yet got very long. The goathair got longer in the 1820s and 30s and by the 1840s the sporrans began to look more or less like the horsehair sporrans of today.

The horsehair, when added, simply augmented the goathair body underneath. Even horsehair sporrans made up until fairly recently still had a goathair front to the body, with horsehair sewn on to create added layers on top.



My various vintage catalogues from the 1920s offer both long horsehair and goathair sporrans and in the photos the two look fairly similar.

[creagdhubh]

Thanks for posting those great pics. My friends who reenact 42nd Highlander 1815 did research on the sporrans and that looks correct. They were made from goat hair, some regiments used white, some gray. I have a gray goat hair coat from the 70's that I kept to make military sporrans with. It is same color as the 92nd one. This is a photo of the 42nd reproduction sporran that they made last year.


figheadair might recognize the tartan cloth in the photo's kilt as he made it. At this time sporrans were for dress uniforms and not known to be worn in battle. Many of the paintings of Waterloo were painted 1830's to 1850's and the artists used the current uniforms of their times like the horsehair sporrans in the Quartre Bras painting .

Very well done!