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  1. #811
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    At the top: "Thread Tools" then "Ignore Thread".
    Rev'd Father Bill White: Retired Parish Priest & Elementary Headmaster. Lover of God, dogs, most people, joy, tradition, humour & clarity. Legion Padre, theologian, teacher, philosopher, linguist, encourager of hearts & souls & a firm believer in dignity, decency, & duty. A proud Canadian Sinclair.

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  3. #812
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    Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
    I was gobsmacked to walk into RG Hardie in Glasgow in 1986 and see an entire wall of seal sporrans. It hadn't dawned on me till then that seal was a common and inexpensive fur in Scotland. Someone told me that there were millions of seals teeming along the Scottish coast and they were more or less vermin.
    In early 1983, while on sabbatical leave, I spent several months in Paris. I was surprised to see Parisian women carrying sealskin dress sporrans slung from their shoulder like shoulder bags. Judging by the number of women I saw with one, this was evidently a popular fashion item. I discovered that a good many women's fashion boutiques were marketing these sporrans as "bourses écossaises" (Scottish purses). The precursor to the EU, the EEC, banned the importation of the white-coat sealskins (the youngest harp seals, usually featured prominently in the anti-seal-hunt publicity) sometime during that year, but, as I recall all the sporrans I noticed in Paris featured the skins of more mature seals. I don't know how long this fashion fad endured, but I didn't see any "bourses écossaises" when I was next in Paris in the late 1980s.

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  5. #813
    Join Date
    18th October 09
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    I saw that here in the USA too!

    After the US seal ban my old Pipe Major was amazed to see Scottish-made seal Evening Dress sporrans being sold at an ordinary Department Store.

    About the white seal skins, what you say explains why back in the 1950s and 1950s Scottish makers like WE Scott were using artificial white fur but real grey seal.

    I thought it was simply because artificial fur was a big fashion thing at that time.
    Last edited by OC Richard; 20th March 24 at 06:07 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  7. #814
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    Not something seen much nowadays- sort of a throwback- a square-top Evening Dress seal sporran.

    Around $30 plus post, in the UK, no bids.

    I'm almost certain it's by Manacraft, they do the rivetted D-rings and use that stamp.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/37532835315...Bk9SR9ac6NHOYw
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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  9. #815
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    Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
    Not something seen much nowadays- sort of a throwback- a square-top Evening Dress seal sporran.

    Around $30 plus post, in the UK, no bids.

    I'm almost certain it's by Manacraft, they do the rivetted D-rings and use that stamp.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/37532835315...Bk9SR9ac6NHOYw
    The seller lists the sporran as having been made by Ian Grant of Edinburgh who appears to be still operating, and you can just about make this out in the picture of the stamp impressed into the leather.

    Maybe Ian Grant is the man behind Manacraft (that was), but he has a tempting array of unusual cantles trimming the sporrans he makes.

    This is an attractive sporran anyhow, and could be a bargain for someone...

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  11. #816
    Join Date
    18th October 09
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    Yes it's a handsome sporran!

    I've been collecting photos of the backs of sporrans and it's pretty easy to group them by maker by various telltale signs, like the shape of the leather back as a whole, the shape of the tab with the snap closure, the shape of the leather tab for the strap or adapter to go through, or in the case of Manacraft the rivetted D-rings.

    Like WE Scott and Margaret Morrison, I'm come across Manacraft sporrans with various firms' names stamped on the back, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if Ian Grant had had Manacraft make their sporrans at one time or another.

    Since Manacraft was "dissolved" in 2017 I wonder if someone is still making sporrans to the Manacraft pattern, perhaps using their tooling etc.
    Last edited by OC Richard; 26th March 24 at 04:21 AM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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