At the Clan Chattan Band of Union resigning in Inverness I noticed that the chiefs mostly had antique simple-brass-cantle with brown-leather sporrans, though a few dispensed with the cantled sporran on field trips, and one went for the formal long hair sporran for ceremonies. I liked the look of the old brass cantles and am surprised that they are not made anymore. There are brass cantles but they tend to be ornate - and may be plated rather than solid. It is possible that some of the brass sporrans might be old, as the Chattan chiefdoms are as old as can be, I didn't ask.

So I am looking for my first sporran, and wondered how difficult it would be to have a custom cantle made - or whether there might be a market if one made a mold?

Completely separate issue. I happen to have a cheetah coat which keeps an old wooden statue from Sulawesi warm in my library. It belonged to my Godmother who was in service in Ethiopia. The cheetah skin could be cut into a number of sporrans if I wanted, though I'm not sure how that might look as cheetah is a short-haired cat. It might simply too exotic (and perhaps disconnected from me as I have never been to Africa). Opinions?