History of seal skin sporrans

[Woodsheal]

Sealskin has been used to make sporrans for literally hundreds of years, with seal skins being traded from the North of Scotland for probably close on to a thousand years, if not longer. Generally speaking the present shape of the modern seal skin sporran dates from the 19th century and is, in fact, evolved from the sporrans of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Exactly! Sealing is comparable to whaling in terms of having a LONG history, in both the Old and New Worlds. Even Nantucket whalemen would engage in sealing to augment their whale-oil trade, as I'm sure took place in the Brits' Greenland fishery as well. So, as Mac states, sealskin products of all sorts surely date back many centuries....

[Phil]

Exactly! Sealing is comparable to whaling in terms of having a LONG history, in both the Old and New Worlds. Even Nantucket whalemen would engage in sealing to augment their whale-oil trade, as I'm sure took place in the Brits' Greenland fishery as well. So, as Mac states, sealskin products of all sorts surely date back many centuries....

I have never heard of any significant sealing in Scotland and wonder if there have ever been enough seals for a viable industry. I believe seal fur is only marketable from the pups in their first few days of life so the supply was bound to be extremely small from small, widely separated areas. The trade is more likely to have been encouraged by the likes of the Hudson's Bay Company along with other furs such as beaver.
Does anyone know what other commercial uses there are for seal fur? I know it was used in fly-tying until substitutes were introduced which made it obsolete. Also I have seen trinkets and ornaments such as paperweights from Newfoundland where it has been used. It is a fairly hard and coarse fur so maybe sporans were the most suitable use for it

[NorCalPiper]

I think that continuation of this topic is inviting controversy no matter what its intention.

[Fit2BKilted]

I think that continuation of this topic is inviting controversy no matter what its intention.

I think you're right. A lot of people have been duped by both factions over the years.

[Woodsheal]

I have never heard of any significant sealing in Scotland and wonder if there have ever been enough seals for a viable industry.

There was lots of sealing going on around the globe, even if not specifically in Scotland, so sealskin was probably not a scarce commodity. I'm thinking early-to-mid 19th C. here, when our modern-style sporrans developed....

[rab _]

Thanks for the replies, and the welcome.
As I mentioned, I was hoping to avoid anything controversial!
My question is based on the fact that the vast majority of dress sporrans on sale in Scotland (in my experience) these days are seal skin, and these are sold as being the traditional choice for formal wear. After browsing the vintage photos on here it seems there are plenty examples from the 50's onwards and perhaps some from earlier.
I am interested to know when seal skin became the common choice for dress wear sporrans, or if there was ever such a thing!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Thanks for the replies, and the welcome.
As I mentioned, I was hoping to avoid anything controversial!
My question is based on the fact that the vast majority of dress sporrans on sale in Scotland (in my experience) these days are seal skin, and these are sold as being the traditional choice for formal wear. After browsing the vintage photos on here it seems there are plenty examples from the 50's onwards and perhaps some from earlier.
I am interested to know when seal skin became the common choice for dress wear sporrans, or if there was ever such a thing!

Seal skin sporrans have been popular for evening wear for virtually all of the 20th century.

[Fit2BKilted]

I believe seal fur is only marketable from the pups in their first few days of life so the supply was bound to be extremely small from small, widely separated areas.

I'm afraid I must pipe in and inform all that this is a popular fiction (politically charged). Seal hides, and indeed the entire seal, is a valuable commodity, especially in the High North of Canada. Most traditional Inuit cold-weather clothing was made from the skins of adult grey seals. Harvesting seal pups (the 'cute' white ones) has been illegal in Canada since the early 1970's---although that has not deterred a vocal minority from using ancient footage to further their agenda in the 21st century. AFAIK, seal pups would normally only have been harvested, by Inuit, when they had already taken said pup's parent... mercifully sustainable IMHO. It was the White guys who got into sealing for commercial reasons only that gave the whole industry a bad name (back in the '60's).

Given that this is principally factual information, I pray that it will not ignite a political firestorm in this thread.

[Heming]

I believe seal fur is only marketable from the pups in their first few days of life so the supply was bound to be extremely small from small, widely separated areas.

This is a common misconception. Sealing is still legal in Norway, and sealskins are commonly available as rugs or wall decorations as well as worked into shoes, garments, purses etc. I've never seen a baby-seal skin nor a product made from baby seal. White cubs (very young seals) are illegal to hunt or kill (as are adult seals during mating and birthing season). The grey, black-spotted sealskins used for sporrans are from adult seals.

And as a side note, the seal isn't hunted just for skin, but also for food (the meat is supposedly delicious), and the bones are used for buttons, jewellery etc.

[JSFMACLJR]

I've never seen a baby-seal skin nor a product made from baby seal.

While I pledged to myself to refrain from posting too many photos that might be objectionable to some, I am posting this pic of one of my sporrans to show that even seal cubs were used for sporrans. The fur is longer and finer, with a beautiful colour.

This sporran is OLD, very old. The seal was harvested long before seal hunting was an issue, and has been in my family for at least 80 years. I rarely wear it now, mostly because my brother is "borrowing" it.