Brass Cantle 18th Century Sporrans

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Finding a source for those functional, hinged brass cantles is the hard part. I know Lamar Britt was talking to a friend of his about having them made at some point, but I think that fell through. Donnie Shearer (themadpiper.com) makes his own by hand, and it's pretty labor intensive. His sporrans are wonderful, but expensive, and the majority of the cost is in the cantle. I'd keep checking the House of Labhrain site as they seem to be one of the few places that has them on occasion. I saw one -- once -- on Ebay and still kick myself for not buying it.

Matt

[castledangerous]

Finding a source for those functional, hinged brass cantles is the hard part. I know Lamar Britt was talking to a friend of his about having them made at some point, but I think that fell through. Donnie Shearer (themadpiper.com) makes his own by hand, and it's pretty labor intensive. His sporrans are wonderful, but expensive, and the majority of the cost is in the cantle. I'd keep checking the House of Labhrain site as they seem to be one of the few places that has them on occasion. I saw one -- once -- on Ebay and still kick myself for not buying it.

Matt

I would forgo the functioning spring-loaded hinge, if I could find a maker of just the cantle itself. I noticed themadpiper.com says no more orders til backlog is finished

[Joe Gondek]

I've been wanting to try making one for some time
my problem is not having one to look at or copy
I have found a photo of the spring catch system and it looks pretty simple to make.I don't have one of the piece that goes into the catch
all the other photos I find only show the fronts

I would like to find photos of the back, sides and top
also especially shots taken from top and side with it opened

can anyone help?

[ThistleDown]

I've been wanting to try making one for some time
my problem is not having one to look at or copy
I have found a photo of the spring catch system and it looks pretty simple to make.I don't have one of the piece that goes into the catch
all the other photos I find only show the fronts

I would like to find photos of the back, sides and top
also especially shots taken from top and side with it opened

can anyone help?

Joe and Scully. The following is taken from my copy of the 1881 edition of TCTH. I hope it helps, but I must admit that I have seen many brass cantle sporrans of the early to late 19C (there are lots in private armoires and chests in the Highlands) and have only seen one with anything we might call a complex spring-loaded system. Among the others the vast majority have a simple button-down system at the back of the cantle. A couple I have seen have sort of back-and-front L-shaped plates with the back part fitting under the top of the front and a tension system released by lifting the finial at the centre top. I would think that metal fatigue would eventually cause that to fail but after a century and more.... The side finials are actually pivots that allow the front cantle to drop forward when the tension is released. Does that make sense? If not, I'll try to get some pics or do some sketches for you.

The one I made years ago is a reasonable mimic and is a shaped sheet brass plate braised to a sheet brass hoop that conforms to the shape of the plate. The back of the sporran is leather (about 10 oz) and connects to the cantle with a strap and button. The original cantle was embossed on the front with a series of interlaced rings, but I merged this with another I had seen that had a very plain front; I preferred this at the time and perhaps still do today.

I have never seen a copper cantle, but I have seen a couple of very simple 19C steel ones. Historical, but not to my taste: massive attempts at the silversmiths art is how I see them.