Tan leather & goat-skin sporran - pewter cantle

[Troglodyte]

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Now, I know some of you have views and feelings about fur on essentially day-wear sporrans, so avert your eyes if you fall into this category..!

This little lovely has just been pushed to the 'finished' end of my work-bench, so I thought I would let you see it.

The pewter cantle has been culled from an organ-donor who has made the selfless sacrifice, and so has given a goatskin fur and tan leather project the potential of a long and useful life.

I have tried a couple of new techniques with this sporran, such as the decorative pinked-and-pierced rear edge-binding that has been folded into the crease of the gusset, and a novel way of doing my hallmark-style leather tassel caps.

You will recognise the 'vintage style' chain-strap tab at the rear, which melds well with the old-fashioned tone of the leather - a deliberately cunning move on my part, that.

And the interior is lined with a very soft deep pile suede, which adds a touch of luxury.

Like it..?

[ShaunMaxwell]

Nicely done!

SM

[crumbaughs]

I am very impressed! That is a work of art.
Is it hand stitched or machine sewn or both?
I have never attempted a sporran, though some of my leatherworking friends have.
Very, very nice!

Steve Crumbaugh

[Troglodyte]

I am very impressed! That is a work of art.
Is it hand stitched or machine sewn or both?
I have never attempted a sporran, though some of my leatherworking friends have.
Very, very nice!

Steve Crumbaugh

It is all entirely cut, stitched and assembled by hand - no machinery involved whatsoever, which is why they take an age to make..!

I have no leather-working or bag-making experience, and have come to sporran-making via another craft. Whilst I fully appreciate the practical needs of commercial sporran-makers, my own making time is free and so I can indulge in time-consuming and potentially costly techniques.

My approach has been to look at a good quality vintage sporran, and think such-and-such could be improved if... and have the set about to make it so.

My choice of leathers are not the usual bag-hides that normally get used (commercial sporran-makers have now even go so far as to use leather-look fibreboard for the front and rear panels), preferring skins specially intended for the antique restoration and fine-binding trades.

Quality furs are not cheap, and the usable area is limited by the hair-growth direction - even a fairly large goatskin like this is only good for upto three sporran fronts. Which is good in a way, as each of my sporrans is unique.

They are fun to do, and it's gratifying when people offer to buy them - even if the price is only enough to cover the cost of materials and give me a bit of beer money...

I'm glad you like it!

[FossilHunter]

Perfection.

[OC Richard]

Beautifully done!

One thing that might or might not be of any concern to you is that 100 years from now anyone coming across your sporran who is familar with 20th century sporran makers will assume it's by Forsyth.

[Troglodyte]

Beautifully done!

One thing that might or might not be of any concern to you is that 100 years from now anyone coming across your sporran who is familar with 20th century sporran makers will assume it's by Forsyth.

I'd be flattered if they did..!

But not surprised, as the rear strap-tab template that I use is copied from one of my old unbranded (possibly Forsyths-made for and independant retailer) sporrans.

There is a curious similarity between mine and the Forsyth's sporran in your picture - and I (honestly, now) don't remember seeing that one before now.

But I have seen that sort of thing in handicrafts in the past - where two makers arrive at the same conclusions and designs while being unaware of each other's work.

Many years ago now, I was in Florence where I had gone to work with a bookbinder there, and where they he a distinctive style. Showing my own work, the binder declared "Ah, French..." to the style I had developed for myself.

This intrigued me, so I looked into Fench binding styles, and discovered that only a few of my techniques were different.

I guess there are limits to what can be done with these oval type sporrans, so the chances of finish and decoration being similar between makers is quite high.

[Troglodyte]

Perfection.

High praise indeed..!

Thanks!

Here are some more of my recent projects, in case you're interested...

I made a matching solid brass chain-strap for the brass cantled fur-front sporran, which makes a nice combo'.

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[OC Richard]

the rear strap-tab template that I use is copied from one of my old unbranded (possibly Forsyths-made for and independent retailer) sporrans.

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.

[Troglodyte]

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.

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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...