It's just about done, most of the major work is complete.

This sterling silver sporran was made in 1873 in Glasgow, by Duncan Ferguson and is hallmarked on the reverse of the cantle. I VERY carefully cleaned and removed the tarnish from the cantle and cones, I didn't want to remove too much and wanted the design of the cantle be pronounced by leaving much of the tarnish in the depressions of the design.

The hair was filthy, and needed several washes to come clean. But it was well worth it in the end. The goat hair is very nice and has a beautiful color to it. I also did my best to recondition the leather/pelt.

What attracted me most to this sporran was the extreme detail and the use of thistle and clover in its design, I have never seen clover before on a cantle and think the way it was integrated with the thistle made a stunning effect. The cones of the tassles were also very decorated with interesting floral designs. The amount of craftsmanship that went into making the cones alone, is amazing.

I thought I'd share some pictures with all of you.