Astrakhan (fur)

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Astrakhan jacket with sable trim . From Friday March, Leipzig, 1908

Astrakhan (from Tatar or Persian استراخان Hādschī Tarchān , a city name, also Astrakhan , a term from the fur industry) is another name in German-speaking countries for the Persian , the fur of the Karakul sheep (in French and Spanish also astrakan or astracano in addition to karakul) and for the fur of a so - called half - Persian -Race. There is also the term Astrakhan Kid for the skins of Chinese kids.

In common parlance, Astrakhan was the last name, but rarely used, often the Persian. This article covers the Half-Persians called Astrakhan and the kidskins called Astrakhan Kid.

Astrakhan (Merluschka lamb)

Skins from crosses of Karakul sheep (fat-tailed sheep) with native sheep breeds are more or less similar in character to the Persian. The Merluschka sheep is kept in the Kyrgyz steppes , from the Urals to Mongolia and in China. The curl is quite open, a little coarse, curled, but partly beautifully patterned. The color is partly white, black or piebald.

Astrakhan blank for sleeve and collar, 1895
Distribution of fur for an astrakhan jacket, 1895

Meyers Konversationslexikon from 1894 to 1896 writes:

Astrachan, Baranken, Baranjen, the curly, small, black-brown lambskins named after the Russian city ​​of Astrakhan . Towards the head, the curls are larger, and towards the end of the tail, they are simpler or smoother. They are obtained from southern Russia, Tatarstan, and Persia. The deep black astrakhan found in the trade are always colored, but to the detriment of the skin, which becomes brittle as a result. Under the name of Astrakhan, there are also imitations made of plush-like fabrics in stores, where the curly, shiny surface of the real goods is often deceptively imitated. One recognizes these imitations, however, very easily by the all too similar nature of the curls and the tissue visible at the bottom.

The raw skins of the Merluschka sheep (crosses with Tatar sheep) of young lambs are sold in Germany as Treibel (Dreibel), the colored skins as Astrakhan . In France these skins were called “caracul” and the Persian “astrakan”. Recently the Persians have been called "karakul" there. Probably because of the mentioned leather, which was previously changed to the detriment of the dyeing, after 1900 the skins were almost exclusively dyed in the fur dyeing works in Leipzig, which were then leading in lamb finishing.

In 1895 a specialist furrier book wrote about the problem of dyeing Astrakhan, stating that the skins were sold otherwise half-stained. The Russian stain attacked the leather , which was already very delicate , in such a way that the Russians were induced to hand in the goods unstained. The skins were then only stained in Germany, which made the leather less crumbly . In addition, it was noted that it would be desirable if this hide was treated with sumac or a similar tanning agent because of its frequent snapping (i.e. grain breaks - these are cracks in the upper leather on the side of the hair) , which do not stress the grain as much and make the leather as a whole stronger . The different because of nuances that has the coat in natural economic condition, and very seldom achieve a true black, the Astrakhan are colored black, like all similar kinds of Shiraz , Breitschwanz , Caracul , Bocharen (similar Astrakhan, harder and stronger Locke. Term now uncommon.) etc.

Regarding processing, the same textbook writes that Astrakhan does not cause great difficulties for the furrier. In line with the fashion around 1900, small parts such as sleeves and collars were usually made out of them anyway . However, the similar in appearance but more expensive Persian jackets had just emerged, for which Astrakhan was a cheap replacement item. For the larger pieces, the advice is given again to sew over too crumbly skins tightly with black, soft fabric, this saves later annoyance and necessary mending .

In 1833 good astrakhan goods cost 60 marks at the Leipzig Easter fair, compared to 25 to 35 marks for a Russian cat fur.

Astrakhan finishing shop by Theodor Thorer , Leipzig-Lindenau, 1912

The tobacco trade sorts raw Treibel into:

  • Golovka (heads) = best goods, tight curls
  • Partionnaja (lot goods) = mixed, but usable
  • Schposchnaja (hats) = mostly small curls
  • Baganisty = smoke, large curl, shiny
  • Kliamisty = flat, shiny curl
  • Goliak = flat, without pattern
  • Saksak = curly skins from animals around six months old, which are mostly made into hats for the local residents
Kidfelle

In 1965 the fur consumption for a fur board ( coat "body" ) sufficient for an astrakhan coat with a length of 112 centimeters with 30 to 40 skins was given. A board with a length of 112 centimeters and an average width of 150 centimeters and an additional sleeve section was used as the basis. This corresponds roughly to a fur material for a slightly exhibited coat of clothing size 46 from 2014. The maximum and minimum fur numbers can result from the different sizes of the sexes of the animals, the age groups and the origin. Depending on the type of fur, the three factors have different effects.

Kid-Astrakhan (Astrakhan-Kid)

Kid-Astrakhan is the name for a kind of kidskin from northern China in the tobacco trade. The skins have a moiré-like pattern and are usually blackish, gray, yellowish or white. The premature birth of this goat is called Kid-Galjak .

Chinese fur cross , but here made from pieces of Feh , approx. 1905

The best skins come from the western regions, they have the most pleasing pattern. Before 1952, about 2 million pelts came from here annually, while from the southern areas around Shandong there were about 5 million. Most of the skins went to America; Well-patterned raw hides were particularly popular in those parts of the country with a milder climate, while gray hides were particularly popular in Canada at the time.

If the fur animals are divided into the hair fineness classes silky, fine, medium-fine, coarse and hard, the kid's hair is classified as medium-fine.

In China, the skins are usually put together to form panels called kidskin plates that are 30 × 65 inches in size  . The waste such as ears, foreheads, heads and claws are also processed in this way. This is done either at home or in factories, in the first half of the 20th century almost everything was still hand-sewn, often by children. Such a plate can often consist of hundreds of tiny pieces.

Colored plates are called Tapanschang plates , Chinese Astrakhan plates (Kid-Astrakhan) , if they are more curled than " Western black kid plates ". The boards are usually supplied in the following assortment: Moirée, half-moirée, flat and short hair with pattern, short and medium hair, havy and long hair. The longhair plates used to be used mainly for tail production .

Until about 1925, the skins were mostly or maybe not at all in the tables that were better processed for Western clothing, but were put together to form crosses (kid's crosses). These were largely processed in China itself, where the typical Chinese clothing could be made from them with simple means. Essentially, all that remained was to open the neck hole and close the side and forearm seams. In 1952, the Frankfurt tobacco merchant Richard König still remembered how he had to neatly assemble the large piles of kid's crosses in his apprenticeship in Leipzig, corner after corner. It was said that in China, people started producing tablets instead of crosses because the item Kidcrosses was listed in the American customs tariff, but Kidplates was not. This enabled the importers to import the skins into America for a while at a cheaper tariff. White panels were mainly colored in fantasy colors, while the good-colored gray panels were left natural. The poorly colored ones were colored brown or black with blue wood, or they were superficially blended brown. The sheets gained "enormous appearance" through the dyeing and therefore all types of kid sheets represented a very inexpensive cover material. "Due to the variety of patterns, from long-haired fur to the finest moirée, even the most modest and the greatest demands can of course be met. "

In 1965 the fur consumption for a fur board (coat "body") sufficient for a kid-astrakhan coat with a length of 112 centimeters with 38 to 43 fur was given.

All types of kidskin and lambskin used in the fur industry are used in all kinds of clothing, primarily for large items such as jackets and coats, also for hats, but also for home accessories such as fur blankets or seat covers.

Numbers and facts

  • In 1925 the tobacco wholesaler Jonni Wende offered:
Astrakhan: Curly 15 to 28 Reichsmarks; Moiré 30 to 55 Reichsmarks
Kid crosses: blue-colored 21 to 26 Reichsmarks; black-colored 18 to 24 Reichsmarks; Sable-colored 20 to 26 Reichsmarks
  • Before 1944 the maximum price for Astrakhan (Treibel) colored was:
Moiré, fine 28 RM; Trim types, good 8 RM
Moiré, mean 20 RM; Trim types, middle 4 RM
Moiré, lower 15 RM.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Encyclopaedia Iranica: Astrakhan .
  2. ^ A b c Christian Franke, Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel's Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89. 10th, revised and expanded edition. Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, pp. 261, 267, 297 and 298.
  3. ↑ Astrakhan. In: Meyers Konversationslexikon. Volume 2, 14th edition. FA Brockhaus, Leipzig / Berlin / Vienna 1894–1896.
  4. ^ A b Emil Brass : From the realm of fur. 1911, publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin, p. 684.
  5. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelzlexikon Bd. A-Fachkunde, Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949, keyword Bocharen
  6. ↑ Heinrich Hanicke: Handbook for furrier. Published by Alexander Duncker, Leipzig, 1895, pp. 12-13.
  7. ^ H. Werner: The furrier art. Publishing house Bernh. Friedr. Voigt, Leipzig 1914, p. 25.
  8. ↑ a b Paul Schöps u. a .: The material requirements for fur clothing. In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. XVI / New Series 1965 No. 1, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin a. a., pp. 7-12. Note: The information for a body was only made to make the types of fur easier to compare. In fact, bodies were only made for small (up to about muskrat size) and common types of fur, and also for pieces of fur . The following dimensions for a coat body were taken as a basis: body = height 112 cm, width below 160 cm, width above 140 cm, sleeves = 60 × 140 cm.
  9. ↑ a b c d Richard König: An interesting lecture. Presentation on the trade in Chinese, Mongolian, Manchurian and Japanese tobacco products. In: Die Pelzwirtschaft No. 47, 1952, p. 47.
  10. ↑ Paul Schöps, Kurt Häse: The fineness of the hair - the fineness classes. In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. VI / New Series, 1955 No. 2, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps. Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 39–40
  11. ↑ Jonni Wende company brochure, Rauchwaren en wholesale, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, New York, August 1925, p. 4, 10
  12. ^ Friedrich Malm, August Dietzsch: The art of the furrier. Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1951, p. 21.