Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
Yes if it has that tab it would almost certainly be by the same maker. Did Forsyth make their sporrans in-house or did an uncredited maker make them? I have no idea, but I have photos of sporrans obviously by the same maker which are unstamped.

It might be like WE Scott & Son who have never stamped their name on their sporrans, but who have stamped numerous retailers' names on them over the years.

I have a whole album of photos of sporran backs that I've grouped by style. Each Scottish maker (and L&M) seems to have used a unique tab shape, and these shapes can be seen to correspond with slightly different body shapes.

It's like I've said, you can tell a lot more from the back of a sporran than from the front, because most of the Scottish makers (and L&M) used the same cantles and made the same (or similar) models, so if you only see the front a sporran could be by practically anybody.


I had a host of photos of sporran-backs that were obviously by the same maker, some had no name but others were stamped with a variety of names. It wasn't until one showed up stamped Margaret Morrison that I realised that that firm made unstamped sporrans and sporrans stamped with the names of various retailers in addition to sporrans stamped with their own name. (A bespoke sporran MM made for me is unstamped.)

Anyhow I think I'll put together a collage showing all the different sporran-back styles I've collected.
DSCF9299a.jpg DSCF9300a.jpg DSCF9301a.jpgDSCF9361a.jpg DSCF9362a.jpg DSCF9383a.jpg

You may have seen these from me before... but they are what I have used as inspiration for my own work.

They are all from a similar era and construction quality but the lack of branding leaves a bit of guess-work as to the maker. My assumption has been the maker for Forsyths (even Forsyths themselves) were producing for independant retailers - but now we are at the unsigned Old-Masters stage. Without the recognised branding, it can only ever at best be 'after' the Old-Master.

It's all academic to me anyway, and makes interesting discussion, but I was astonished to find a black and an oxblood version of the same sporran from completely different sources and at different times.

But I think the tan raised-panel sporran is the interesting one, tab-wise - you will see it has a reinforcing or stiffening bar under the lower portion. I've been holding off replicating that, but you never know...