Quality Sporrans for less money

[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]

Plain black post-1980 WE Scott $19 in the USA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14520341277...%7C1750%7C3000

Looks like the Wichita Caledonian Pipes & Drums https://www.wichitacaledonian.com/ is selling off all their old sporrans $15 each. You can see them wearing them on their site.

They don't show the backs so I can't be sure, but the shape of the bells looks UK made.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/38586653719...%7C1750%7C3000

A quite hideous sporran, again they don't show the back but the bells look UK-made, and the seller claims the sporran is Scottish-made $30

https://www.ebay.com/itm/33610802312...%7C1750%7C3000

[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

[OC Richard]

Ha! I didn't know that was "a thing" in various industries.

It sure is with Pakistani sporrans, kilts, kilt jackets, etc.

Below is a sampling of deceptive Pakistani labelling.

The other thing is for a company to include the word "Scotland" in its name, so the labels will say something like (I'll just make one up to protect the guilty) "Highland Clanwear Scotland" but everything is made in Pakistan.

All of this violates US clothing labelling laws which say labels must state fabric content, country of origin, and (oddly enough) laundering instructions.

[OC Richard]

A very nice c1960 EW1 sporran by WE Scott Edinburgh, showing the higher quality of that period.

It's seal, it's in the UK, and the price is higher that I normally consider here, but it's a lovely thing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/33617611425...Bk9SR7S2kKuoZg

Way above our price-point but a real stunner is this Forsyth sporran

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11677706150...Bk9SR7a2kKuoZg

[OC Richard]

Lovely older seal sporran here in the USA, probably WE Scott pre-1953.

It's the older style where the cantle has a backplate and there's a pocket in back.

Opening bid $20

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37654537843...102140.m167418

[OC Richard]

WE Scott "semi dress" sporran, bovine or pony fur, in the US $43.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25703951894...Bk9SR9ySg-yrZg

When the ban on importing sealskin into the US happened (1972) WE Scott quickly introduced a line of export sporrans specifically for the US market using "bovine" and "pony" fur.