Quality Sporrans for less money

[geomick]

WE Scott black "day" sporran with white pony/bovine front, $10.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14678058437...102140.m167418

what are the clues to that being a real Scottish sporran? is it just based on having seen a lot of them vs the cheap knock-offs?

[OC Richard]

what are the clues to that being a real Scottish sporran?

With sporrans you can tell a lot more from seeing the back than from seeing the front.

Because there were makers in Scotland like Nicoll Brothers (Bankfoot) and WE Scott (Edinburgh) and the Canadian maker L&M Highland Outfitters (Nova Scotia) who made many of the same patterns, looking similar or even identical from the front, but which look unique on the back.

So here are a dozen sporran backs from 11 different makers.

These are examples with the maker's name stamped on the back (in the cases where they did do).

All, or nearly all, of these can also be found with no stamps at all, or with the stamps of various retailers.

So for example several of these can be found with Kinloch Anderson stamps, and several can be found with Hugh MacPherson stamps, and so it goes.

This being the case, you have to know the tab-shapes and strap-shapes of the various makers to ID them.

It's helpful to see the back of an Evening Dress sporran, to see the shape of the fastening strap, which Day sporrans lack. (Note that WE Scott and L&M use similar tab shapes, but quite distinct strap shapes.)

[Troglodyte]

Not exactly sporrans for less money, but these listings look interesting...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116748235054

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116748235970

Something tells me the seller is being a bit too hopeful, but you never know...

[OC Richard]

Not exactly sporrans for less money, but these listings look interesting...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116748235054

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116748235970

Something tells me the seller is being a bit too hopeful, but you never know...

Gorgeous Forsyth sporrans in great condition, they might be worth it for somebody.

(Personally I'll wait for a beat-up one that's cheap.)

[OC Richard]

Here are a couple of nice vintage Day sporrans I picked up on Ebay recently.

Experienced sporran-watchers here will know that the left one is by Nicoll Brothers (Bankfoot) the right one by WE Scot (Edinburgh). WE Scott never stamped their name, leaving the back blank for the stamps of retailers, in this case Hugh MacPherson (Edinburgh and St Catherines).

Nicoll Brothers sometimes stamped their own name and sometimes left the backs blank for retailers.

Though both sporrans "the same model" you can see the unique touches of the two makers.

Especially from the back you can see the squat round body-shape Nicoll Brothers are known for.

And as is usually the case each maker had their own unique stamps for the decoration.

Both sporrans came with lovely old high-quality silverplate long-link chain straps.

They were both from US sellers. The WE Scott sporran was $60 and the Nicoll Bros sporran was a $36 "Buy It Now" which I jumped on.

[OC Richard]

Here for under $50 B.I.N. in the USA a WE Scott brown Day sporran, very nice.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28680043291...102140.m167418

[California Highlander]

That Nicoll Brothers fur front is my favorite type of day sporran. Lovely and a great price you got it for!

Here are a couple of nice vintage Day sporrans I picked up on Ebay recently.

Experienced sporran-watchers here will know that the left one is by Nicoll Brothers (Bankfoot) the right one by WE Scot (Edinburgh). WE Scott never stamped their name, leaving the back blank for the stamps of retailers, in this case Hugh MacPherson (Edinburgh and St Catherines).

Nicoll Brothers sometimes stamped their own name and sometimes left the backs blank for retailers.

Though both sporrans "the same model" you can see the unique touches of the two makers.

Especially from the back you can see the squat round body-shape Nicoll Brothers are known for.

And as is usually the case each maker had their own unique stamps for the decoration.

Both sporrans came with lovely old high-quality silverplate long-link chain straps.

They were both from US sellers. The WE Scott sporran was $60 and the Nicoll Bros sporran was a $36 "Buy It Now" which I jumped on.

[OC Richard]

That Nicoll Brothers fur front is my favorite type of day sporran. Lovely and a great price you got it for!

Yes I feel lucky that I happened to see it before anyone else. I knew if I didn't click BIN it would be gone in minutes.

I too love the old brown Day sporrans with seal front. I don't know what it is about them, but they look "just right" to me.

Here's some more of that model including one post-1980 tarted-up one (it's by Nicoll Brothers, you can see the smaller knotwork stamps. And somebody had to replace one of the tassels).

[OC Richard]

what are the clues to that being a real Scottish sporran? is it just based on having seen a lot of them vs the cheap knock-offs?

So above I posted a collage "spotter's guide" to the backs of various legit Scottish makers (with which L&M in Canada needs to be included).

Here's the dark underbelly, a "spotter's guide" to Pakistani sporrans.

I don't know the specific maker in Pakistan, but they generally have that tell-tale equilateral triangle tab.

Some are stamped "designed in Scotland" which you also see on the labels with many Pakistani kilts and jackets.

Note the Evening sporran which comes boxed, the box and the paper tag saying "designed in Scotland" but the sporran itself stamped "made in Scotland".

And several others of these obviously Pakistani sporrans are stamped "made in Scotland" but as I said they can be identified by looking at the back.

[jsrnephdoc]

I don't know the specific maker in Pakistan, but they generally have that tell-tale equilateral triangle tab.

Some are stamped "designed in Scotland" which you also see on the labels with many Pakistani kilts and jackets.

I've been an Apple fanboy since very early in my career, living just minutes away from Apple headquarters in Cupertino and treated to advance notice about the revolutionary human-machine interface Apple allegedly "borrowed" from then ascendant Xerox Parc Lab. Later on, of course, after Steve's dismissal and then return to the mothership, he's responsible for leveraging the ascendancy of his baby to corporate SuperStar status, but the analogy to Pakistani business practices lives on in the following logo:

"Designed in Cupertino (or, in some versions, California: assembled in China"

And here's another play on that concept:

https://prod-static.mobilesyrup.com/...9559795303.png