Burunduk fur

From left: eastern chipmunk, Indian palm squirrel , Burunduk

Burunduki jacket and muff (based on an original from around 1900)

Burunduki coat costume with stocking a second coat type (1924)

Burunduki fur (1952)

The Asian chipmunk , the Burunduk , plural Burunduki, is one of the smallest animals made into fur clothing .

Burunduk

The Burunduk fur is about 8 to 16 centimeters in length, similar in size to a mole's fur , and the tail is 6 to 14 centimeters. The middle of the fur is gray, with five black vertical stripes, of which the middle one is the longest. The spaces between the dark stripes are yellowish to whitish. The weaker hairy belly and the insides of the legs are grayish white to yellowish white. The top of the bushy tail is blackish, the underside of the tail yellowish. There is a white line from the nose under the eyes to the ears and also above the eye. The short, thick hair is very fine and lies against the skin. The hair change that starts from the back takes place only once a year, from June to September.

As Brass wrote in its first edition from 1911, the skins of the animals hunted as grain pests were ignored until the First World War, "although they would make very nice food". In 1925 he reported, however, "in the meantime this has also been recognized in the circles of the fur industry and Burunduki are now a not insignificant trade article". The Leipzig tobacco merchant Arthur Hermsdorf later said that the type of fur was first "found" in America before it was also used in Europe.

Around 1970, 10,000 skins a year came from Mongolia, and the trend was rising, to Russian auctions. The animals were mainly shot at the time, which meant a considerable loss of quality of the small pelts. In 1986 there were 50,000 pieces, and 23,000 in the following year. Together with a general decline in the types of fur offered or in demand, however, they have almost completely disappeared from the market.

In the trade, it is unusual for the qualities to be distinguished from one another, the Russian standard states for Burunduki:

only one origin: Siberian; as variety: full-haired; as fishing season: late autumn.

Around 1930 a sorting into three grades was still common. The 1. Quality “was clear in color, the slightly bluish ones were possibly also sorted into the best (sometimes it was only the shadow of the dark undercoat that shone through the very thin upper hair). The 2. Quality “was usually a bit thicker in the fur and had a slate-colored leather. The lowest quality, known as “low grades”, was very weak and thin in the hair and actually worthless.

Skins from China are much paler but otherwise of a similar quality, they were also in demand by the trade.

The skins are cut open, not pulled off round, and delivered. They are usually sold as semi-finished fur in sheet form, in the past also twice as wide, as sheets round and sewn up at the bottom, as so-called "sacks".

The durability coefficient for Burunduk fur was given based on general experience as 20 to 30 percent. According to an American furrier book from 1974, redesigning a piece of fur from Burunduki with its fine leather is not recommended. If the edges are worn away by use, it is better not to repair them, but to pipette them with a suitable material .

As a rule, however, fur linings were made from the light, strikingly patterned skins , occasionally also fur accessories, especially at the beginning of the 20th century women's jackets.

Similar chipmunks

American chipmunk

The even more colorful fur of the American chipmunk , the chipmunk or hackee , was used by Indian women to adorn their clothes. It was vigorously hunted as a grain pest, but it hardly played a role in the fur trade. The American chipmunk is represented in many species, all of which have in common the yellow-red basic color, while the number and color of the vertical stripes are different. Most of the stripes are dark brown, but black in some species, and alternate with yellow stripes in others.

Jungle palm squirrel

The fur of the jungle palm squirrel found on the west coast of India is also somewhat similar to that of Burunduk. It is yellow-brown with three white vertical stripes separated by darker stripes in between. The fur length is about twelve centimeters, the brightly colored tail is about eight centimeters long. Every now and then, in the first third of the 20th century, small batches came onto the market, although the population did not actually pursue them. The tobacco merchant Emil Brass once received 8,000 pieces, "which, despite the thin hair, made quite pretty food".

annotation

1. ↑ The specified comparative values ​​( coefficients ) are the result of comparative tests by furriers and tobacco shops with regard to the degree of apparent wear and tear. The figures are not unambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of durability in practice, there are also influences from fur dressing and fur finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case . More precise information could only be determined on a scientific basis. The division was made in steps of ten percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

Web links

Commons : Burundu skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Burunduk (clothing)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Dathe , Paul Schöps et al.: Pelztieratlas. VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1986, p. 100.
2. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, p.  587-588 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, p.  696-697 .
4. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 397 ( → table of contents ).
5. ↑ N. Dawaa, M. Not, G. Schünzel: About the fur animals of the Mongolian People's Republic (MVR). In: The fur trade. Vol. XXI New Series Volume 1, 1971, p. 6.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ’s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10th revised and supplemented new edition. Rifra-Verlag, Murrhardt 1988, p. 175 .
7. ^ ^{A b} Max Bachrach: Fur. A Practical Treatise. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York 1936. pp. 157-160. (English).
8. ↑ Arthur Samet: Pictorial Encyclopedia of Furs. Arthur Samet (Book Division), New York 1950, p. 409 (English).
9. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods . tape XX . Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1950, OCLC 551856387 , p. XVII , keyword “Burunduki” .
10. ↑ Paul Schöps; H. Brauckhoff, Stuttgart; K. Häse, Leipzig, Richard König , Frankfurt / Main; W. Straube-Daiber, Stuttgart: The durability coefficients of fur skins. In: The fur trade. Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, pp. 56–58.
11. ^ David G. Kaplan: World of Furs. Fairchield Publications. Inc., New York 1974, p. 158 (English).