Hunting sporran?

[Father Bill]

Terry, how roomy is it compared to others you've worn?

[RichardtheLarge]

Steve, &/or Terry - If that is indeed the "Duncan" your pictures show as brown, but they have it listed as brown pebbled leather, but in the pictures, both of yours look two-tone and smooth. Which is correct please?

How "roomy" is it, compared to some others that you may have worn?

https://www.artisansofscotland.com/p...-stud-sporran/

I own this sporran from WE Scott and Son. It’s roomier than my D flap “day” sporrans. I’ve worn this sporran with daywear and also with black tie, and I consider it a good choice for people who don’t wear fur. Kinloch Anderson features this sporran with one of their evening wear sets. It will hold a large smartphone, big key ring, and small wallet.

[Terry Searl]

Terry, how roomy is it compared to others you've worn?

Because both the front and back of the brown Hunter sporran are stiffer leather and it has softer leather gussets at the sides it opens fairly well to get my hand in but the gussets and hard leather front and back stop it from becoming a bag. My other sporran is not as stiff a leather on the front and back so would is able to fit more in it, if I chose ......but again I don't have a lot of stuff to carry about with me, so they are both fine...... I suppose if I carried a cell phone, car keys with fobs and such and a bulging wallet, I would have to rummage around a bit inside when looking for something....... I'm not keen on having a big bag of a sporran danging at my front so the two I have suit me very well.......I do tend to wear the brown one more often as I like the colour .........sorry photos are still not loading heh! heh! maybe tomorrow

[Dollander]

I've heard whisper there are sporrans designated as "hunting" sporrans. As far as I can tell, it's a sporran without tassels that move and, therefore, make noise. Gotta say, I'd love to not have my sporran accompany me with every singe step I make by having the tassels hit.
Is there such a thing? If so, any great place to buy them online?
thanks,
Patrick

I saw this one on eBay, which appears to be from USA Kilts: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-leath....c100675.m4236

As of this post the highest bid is $53, and considering that a new one is $249.99 (come to think of it, I've only ever seen them for at least $200, or cheap ones for under $50), it's definitely worth a shot if it's something you're truly interested in.

[OC Richard]

Hunting sporrans have always interested me. I wonder when they were invented and why they were called that.

One thing to keep in mind (looking back over sporran evolution) is that all of the small (around 6 inch by 8 inch) pocket-like sporrans, both the all-leather Day sporrans and the silver-topped fur-fronted Evening sporrans, didn't appear until the early 20th century. Throughout the 19th century the standard sporran, civilian and military, Day and Evening, was the long hair sporran. The only smaller sporrans I see in the late 19th century are animal-mask sporrans and reproduction (or original?) 18th century brass-topped deerskin sporrans.

Anyhow you see Hunting Sporrans early enough, taking their place amongst other Day sporrans here in 1936. Other styles are the typical 20th century leather pockets, a couple reproduction 18th century sporrans, a Rob Roy sporran, and an animal mask sporran.

Note that these early Hunting Sporrans are soft and pliable and lack metal cantles.



Here is one in the flesh



Throughout the 2nd half of the 20th century most makers did Hunting Sporrans more or less like the one below, all-leather, brown (early on all Day sporrans were brown). This style is still made by a number of traditional sporran makers in Scotland and Canada.

These aren't the soft pliable sort, but have the same heft and feel as other leather pocket Day sporrans.



Here's a modern example with a bit less refinement. It's done in orange-brown leather to resemble pigskin.



They would put an Evening Dress Sporran metal cantle on sometimes, but done in brass to match the "Day" theme. With the brass top it's beginning to resemble a reproduction 18th century sporran a bit, see the post below for more about that.



(Here is where they grabbed that cantle from)



Here's a mid-20th century look at wearing a Hunting Sporran in Day Dress. The sporran is brown as were all Day sporrans, the brogues black as is typical.



In the tri-fold photo spread of sporran styles used by numerous Scottish makers throughout the 2nd half of the 20th century the Hunting Sporran in brown (orange-brown, to resemble pigskin) can be seen. There's also a strange variant with pony fur on the front, bound with what appears to be dark brown leather. I've never seen one of these elsewhere, in photos or in the flesh.



On another page, what do we have? Incongruously stuck amongst the Evening Dress sporrans is a Hunting Sporran in black leather with a chrome top. I wonder who came up with that. (HS/T/B is probably "hunting sporran, top, black".)



It is this very sporran, a hunting sporran done in black, with a chrome top, which has become the standard civilian pipe band sporran worldwide. At the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow you can see 20, 30, 40 bands one after another all wearing this same sporran. I think part of the reason is that the vast majority of bands wear black jackets and/or waistcoats and black Glengarries (and nowadays black hose) so the traditional brown won't do. Also the chrome top adds some bling, and there are no separate tassels to get lost.

Here is a typical modern pipe band wearing these sporrans.

[OC Richard]

Here's an interesting modern take on the Hunting Sporran by Margaret Morrison of Scotland.



Now, back in the early 20th century there were a number of sporrans which fell somewhere in between being reproduction 18th century sporrans per se, and Hunting Sporrans. They would have the metal top of the 18th century sporran (more or less) and the tooling of the Hunting Sporran (more or less).

Some were very ornate





Perhaps the most well-known example which has been in the Royal family for at least a century





Here with fur. Even with the silver top it is, in my opinion, still a Day sporran



What feels to me like, more or less, a modern version of this style is the modern sporran below, an Evening Dress sporran of brown fur, with a brown leather Hunting Sporran targe attached, and the metalwork in brass.

It's a handsome sporran which strikes me as an elaborate Day sporran rather than an Evening sporran.

[MacGumerait]

PJ ,

Here is a hunting sporran that was made for me by the House of Labhran Highland Wear . I ordered it in their antique leather option for a more vintage look .


hs 1.JPG


Here is a link to their website .

https://houseoflabhran.net/shop/


Cheers , Mike

[OC Richard]

As we can see it's a blend between #16 and #17 in the 1936 Anderson catalogue.