Chinchilla fur

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Dress made of Russian Persian broadtail , over it a chinchilla cape ( Pelzmesse Frankfurt / Main , 1964)

The chinchilla fur has been one of the most valuable fur in the tobacco trade since its first supraregional use, along with the sable ; the hair is considered to be the finest guard hair of all fur species. This fineness also makes the fur comparatively sensitive and therefore particularly suitable for luxury furs in addition to being used as a trimming material.

This extraordinarily high appreciation of the fur of the member of the zoological family of guinea pig relatives, which occurs only in a relatively small area, the Andes , very quickly led to its almost extinction, so that after its absolute protection, only the fur of bred animals has long been traded.

The skins of the long-tailed chinchillas and the short-tailed chinchillas are processed, both of which belong to the genus of the real chinchillas .

The tobacco industry always means the real chinchillas by chinchilla. The skins of the two other chinchilla species Viscacha and Bergviscacha are dealt with in a separate main article → Viscachafell .

General

Linguistically correct it is called "the" chinchilla, in the tobacco shop "the" chinchilla is also used.

The noble Chinchilla is considered an extinct subspecies of the short-tailed chinchilla, another subspecies, the mountain Chinchilla . A second species, the long-tailed chinchilla , is used almost exclusively for breeding . The skins traded come exclusively from farm animals, which apparently all go back to the eleven animals, eight males and three females, that the American Chapman († 1934) brought to California , USA, from Potrerillos in Chile in 1923 after observing the species for a long time . Later attempts to evacuate were made in the Soviet Union in the Pamir region .

In addition to the elegant look, the particularly low weight makes the fur suitable for lavish evening wear. A comparison was made with a piece of silk satin of the same size that is no heavier than a chinchilla fur.

The special flair within the noble furs at the beginning of the 20th century shows a quote from England: “ Have you ever met a 'bourgeois' person who loves chinchillas? You have discovered ermine in beauties - and others. Seal fur is preferred by the rich and wise, but a genteel lady is only one who loves a chinchilla. "

hide

Three breeding chinchilla skins
When blowing in, you can see the fineness of the chinchilla hair

The chinchilla fur has a unique peculiarity: Unlike other mammals, a single hair does not come from the hair root, but 60 to 80, sometimes even more, the finest hair (about 30 times thinner than human hair).

Regarding the apparently unusual delicacy of hair, which is reported without exception in the literature, Bickel stated in 1963 that this was by no means the case. The wool hair of muskrat (10 µ) and nutria (10.8-11.2 µ) , for example, has clearly proven to be superior to that of chinchilla with 13 to 14 µ.

Dathe / Schöps do not comment on this, they give the following information in 1986: The upper hair consists only of guard hairs (2 to 2½ cm long; 17.5 to 25 µ thick); they make up about a quarter of the fur. The remaining 75 percent consist of very delicate, wavy wool hair (5 to 15 µ). They are divided into type I with wide, double-t-shaped air spaces in the marrow and type II with only narrow air spaces without this double-t-shaped expression. There are 13 composite follicles with a total of 193 hairs per mm² . The number of hairs per composite follicle is 7 to 27, on average 14. The somewhat shaggy tail hair is 4 to 7 cm long on the upper side of the tail and about 1 cm long at the bottom.

In contrast to other types of fur, in which the hair lies more or less flat, the chinchilla hair always sticks out vertically from the leather. Due to the extremely dry climate in the Andes, the habitat of the chinchillas, they have not developed fat protection for their hair like other animals through sebum and sweat glands. This makes chinchillas very sensitive to moisture and damp cold. In addition to the hair thinness, the lack of grease protection of the hair is mentioned as another reason for the lower durability of the fur.

The durability coefficient for chinchilla fur was assumed to be 20 to 30 percent based on general experience. An American study classified chinchilla fur at 15 percent based on microscopic hair examinations.

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

The basic properties that determine the value of chinchilla fur are:

  1. Clarity of color , assuming there are no spots or rusty brown tones.
  2. The density of the fur should be even over the entire fur. The leather should not be visible when blowing into the hair.
  3. Veil cover (awning cover), it is important for the profile of the fur. If the tips of the veil extend only partially towards the side, the veil is not good.
  4. Texture is the visible structure or nature of the fur, which determines the beauty of the fur. If stripes, eddies or other impairments of the pattern can be seen, it does not have a good texture (structure).

A distinction is made between:

Short-tailed chinchilla

Peru-chinchilla fur redingote 1900.jpg
Coat made of "Peru Chinchilla" (P. M. Grünwaldt, Paris and St. Petersburg, 1900)
New fur fashions 1910 (2a) .jpg
Short-tailed chinchilla costume with long-haired trim and muff (1910)


  • The extinct noble chinchilla , also known as real chinchilla, large chinchilla, king chinchilla or Peruvian chinchilla was the largest chinchilla species with a length of 36 to 38 cm, the tail length was 14 to 16 cm (including the tail hairs of 7 to 9 cm). The fur was very smoky (a fur with thick, not tightly fitting hair is called “smoke” in the trade), very silky, extremely soft but often fluttering. The underside of the fur was very fine. The upper hair was 3 ½ to 4 cm long on the back and 2 to 3 cm long on the belly. The coloring was darker than that of the mountain chinchilla, it ranged from silver-gray to dark slate-gray (blue-gray), the underside and the feet were white. The upper hair was dark gray at the base of the shaft, white in the upper part (belt-shaped). The hair tips were black gray, creating a silver similar effect was ( agouti staining).
In 1930, the Natural History Museum in Vienna owned fur from the large chinchilla from the 1840s. Since there was very strong public interest in chinchilla fur, the museum management had been trying to get fresh pelts for several years. All attempts were in vain, so that the existing material had to be processed before preparation. Since the bellows lacked ears, artificial ears had to be created. However, no one was found who could provide information about the exact shape of the ears. After long efforts it was finally possible to prove that the ears were plate-shaped and broadly oval.
  • Another subspecies of the short-tailed chinchilla is the mountain chinchilla , also Bolivian chinchilla, Boliviano, Argentine chinchilla, La Plata chinchilla, cordilleras chinchilla, for the smaller varieties also chinchillona; also indiano, small short-tailed chinchilla, brevicaudata.
The occurrence ranges from the Bolivian Department of Potosí to the province of La Rioja in western Argentina at altitudes of 2500 to 4000 m.
The very fine hair is short, smoky, very fine and dense, but less smoky than that of the noble chinchilla.
The upper hair is 2 to 2 ½ cm long, the whiskers 11 to 13 cm; the coat color is light gray with dark mottling. The head body length is 30 to 32 cm, the tail length 14 to 16 cm.

The hair change is not noticeable.

When chinchilla skins came on the market in larger quantities, the individual species (precious chinchilla, Bolivia) were sorted into up to ten color classes.

The name chinchillona does not seem to have been used uniquely for a species. As early as 1844 the explorer v. Tschudi came to this conclusion after a five-year research stay in Chile: “It is an unrewarding and difficult attempt to relate what the older travelers and animal descriptors say about the chinchillas and viscachas in any way to any species. After carefully reading up and deciphering all the information in the old original works, we are finally stale from this sterile work, with the conviction that it will never be possible to come to terms with it, especially because we know from our own experience that the natives do not clearly distinguish these animals in their names and keep confusing chinchilla and viscacha with each other. "He said something similar for the tobacco trade:" We looked around in several fur warehouses in Berlin for so-called chinchilla skins and among them three different ones Species found, viz. Small fine ones from E. Laninger , valued at 15-20 thalers a dozen, and larger, less soft ones at 4-6 thalers a dozen; the latter belong to the two species of Lagidium ; but there are usually eight out of ten cases of L. peruvianum and only two of L. pallipes. "

In 1988, Franke / Kroll use chinchillona to designate the lower varieties of mountain chinchilla (zoologically rabbit mice ) and the better, more blue-gray varieties of viscacha fur coming from the higher mountain regions (also called flatland viscacha to distinguish it from rabbit mice or mountain viscachas).

Richard Gloeck , who was active in the chinchilla fur trade for almost 50 years in 1934, reported at the time that the chinchillonas , known as “Indianos” in South America , came from the eastern slopes of the Cordilleras in Argentina. They were collected in Buenos Aires, where they brought peddling Turks traveling around. These were headed by a primate whose seat was in the street Reconquista. There he inspected the skins and found a resemblance to real chinchillas in terms of size and smoke. The skins, however, were completely yellow and could not be used without dyeing. He was first over color in Paris ( fade , the surface blue tint), and later again, this time much better in Leipzig. His conclusion, however, was: " There is no point in breeding this species ".

A furrier writes that the mountain viscacha, or skins called chinchillona in the fur trade, are very soft and of a pleasant blue-gray that the layman often mistakes for chinchillas. In any case, most of the time there was a great deal of confusion about the chinchilla species, because the fur trade was neither aware of zoological research nor of the origin of the fur, but rather oriented itself towards the main trading places or stacks where the Indians or the second-hand buyers of their goods offered.

The name bastard chinchilla, which has been in use for a long time for the skins of the mountain chinchilla as well as for the long-tailed chinchilla, is both unjustified, it is not a hybrid , but a subspecies of its own.

Because of the uneven hair length, the fur is not as suitable for fur processing as that of the long-tailed chinchillas.

Long-tailed chinchilla

Other names for the long-tailed chinchilla are Chilean chinchilla, small chinchilla, bastard chinchilla (see also mountain chinchilla), woolly mouse, coastal chinchilla and langera.

Their home is the western slopes of the Andes, especially in the northern half of Chile, up to 3000 m altitude. It is the smallest species with a head body length of 25 to 26 cm and a tail length of 17 to 18 cm (including the tail hair). The hair is short, smoky, also very fine and dense. The color is similar to that of the mountain chinchilla, light gray with dark speckles, but dirty yellow-gray to dark blue-gray. The hair length is 2 ½ cm.

Almost only long-tailed chinchillas are bred for the fur trade.

  • Evening coat (Paris, 1907)

  • Stole and Muff (France ?, 1903)

  • Short cape, hat and muff (France, 1900)

History, trade

Countess Sofia Apraksina (1798–1885) with a chinchilla-trimmed cape

Already since 900 BC The furs are said to have been used by an Indian tribe, the Chinchas, who inhabit the high mountain ranges of the Andes. The fur was declared king's fur by the Incas, who subjugated the chinchas. The use of the fur and the fine, silky chinchilla hair is already mentioned in the first known written mention of the chinchillas in 1590. Literally it says: “Chinchillas are a kind of small animal like squirrels. Your hair is wonderfully soft. Their skins are worn for ornamental and health reasons, to protect the stomach and other parts that require moderate warmth. There are also blankets or blankets made from the hair of these chinchillas ”. When the Spaniards conquered Peru and Chile, the animals were so trusting and numerous that you could see thousands of them a day. The uniquely dense, fine and soft fur almost became the chinchillas' undoing. The stocks had hardly decreased among the indigenous peoples, but when the skins came to Europe and became popular, hunting became the only source of income for many Indians.

Chinchilla fur trimmings, Russia 19th century

The Spanish conquistadors brought the furs to the Spanish court for the first time as a rarity in Europe. From there they came to France, where they were very much appreciated at the time of Napoleon I : “ But everyone agrees on the desire to get some fur from this wild cat, which comes from South America and is called chinchilla. In Europe, it seems, there are only a few 20 of them and only four or five Parisians have the prospect of owning them . "

The animals have been known in more detail since 1829, around or after this time the first pelts from Peru were auctioned in London.

When the first chinchillas came onto the fur market around 1880, they did not know what to do with the "fluttering, unsound, high" fur. The first larger delivery was "with great difficulty finally persuaded the hat industry to cost 30 sh / - the dozen (real Bolivia and Peru)". The Leipzig tobacco shop Arthur Hermsdorf commented around 1940: "Today we would like to pay 1,000 marks for beautiful skins, if only they were of good quality and matching".

In 1894, around 400,000 skins were exported from Chile. European trade took place via London, further imports came initially exclusively through the French company Felix Fauvre & Cie. in Le Havre . The largest part was then implemented via Leipzig, the other of the two European trade centers for tobacco products at the time next to London. The Leipzig tobacco shop Richard Gloeck, called the Chinchilla King by his colleagues , sold 18,500 skins in 1899 alone. At the end of the 19th century there were specialists in Leipzig and in the nearby Markranstädt who understood the fur finishing of the fine leather, which is similar to that of the cowhide , so well that they received orders all over the world. As early as 1910, the attack had decreased so much that it was expected to be extinct. Therefore Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru united in 1917 to the Convention for the Protection of Chinchillas, according to which hunting and catching as well as export were prohibited. A fur magazine, on the other hand, did not report until 1921 that the Peruvian government had banned the hunt for chinchillas and the sale of the skins and the articles made from them, mentioning: The decree of October 8, 1920 concerning vicunya skins was extended to chinchillas. Traders who want to import chinchillas must provide a certificate of origin . In any case, only the smallest amounts came into the trade that the New York tobacco trade took up. In practice, they were no longer available on the international market, so there has been no fur made from chinchilla since then . The few chinchilla populations still living in the wild are now under full protection (Appendix I of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species ). All chinchillas traded today therefore come from breeding.

Chinchillacape; Senta Berger at the Berlinale 2010

The first breeding successes of chinchillas occurred in Chile in 1895. In 1913, an Englishman, Sir Thomas Murray, fenced in a mountain area and occupied over 500 animals, but they died within a short time of epidemic diseases and other things. In 1918, the American mining engineer Mathias F. Chapman tried to breed chinchillas. He received permission to export 23 long-tailed chinchillas that were ready for breeding, which he had caught by local hunters. With eleven animals, seven Males and four Females, the "Famous Eleven", he reached California after a stormy sea voyage. These animals formed the breeding line for the now developing and rapidly expanding chinchilla breed in North America, which after the Second World War also expanded to Europe. The same thing was repeated here as in the silver fox breeding in the 1920s; The prospective breeders were promised huge profits, assured that the animals could be kept in the smallest of spaces (balcony, cellar), that as herbivores they were very cheap to keep and made further promises that did not always correspond to reality. In fact, only from the sale of the breeding animals one achieved such high proceeds, in America around 1940 between 3000 and 4000 dollars and 1953 between 500 and 900 dollars per pair. Since some inferior breeding animals were also sold, the pelts were also inferior and hardly made any profit.

For the first decades of chinchilla breeding, it is assumed that there were very soon significantly more chinchilla breeders than mink breeders, as minks were mostly kept in larger farms, while chinchillas were kept on small farms, sometimes indoors. But it wasn't until 1950 that a market with great demand for chinchilla skins emerged again. American breeders' associations organized large advertising campaigns and brought furs under fancy names such as "Aurora Chinchilla" or "Charisma Chinchilla" on the market.

Queen Isabella of Spain (1833-1904) received the world's first chinchilla coat from the hands of a captain who was a tax collector in the South American Spanish possessions. In the 1950s, the actress was Zsa Zsa Gabor of Rafael Trujillo , the son of the dictator of the Dominican Republic , a chinchilla coat worth 100.000, - DM pay. Marie Louise Steinbauer comments: " It didn't bother the attractive Hungarian at all that the funds for the chinchilla came from American development aid for the South American island republic ". According to the American breeders' association NCBA (National Chinchilla Breeders Association), 37 chinchilla coats existed worldwide in 1956. The alleged tenth coat was given to Countess Mary Anselmi, wife of a former consul in Berlin.

In the meantime, as in mink breeding, mutation animals have been attacked and continued to be bred as planned; among others in the colors white with dark awns, light, medium and dark silver, sapphire, light, medium and dark beige. Light, dark and medium charcoals with white or almost white bellies, light, medium and dark black, with brown or black bellies. In 1988 there were around 25 types of paint.

In 2001/2002 the chinchilla farmer Niels Sørig started breeding a double recessive type from the colors Afro Violet and Saphir. The skins first came to the Copenhagen auction in 2011 under the name Blue Diamond .

Around 1900 the value of wild chinchillas was based on the purity of the color. It was sorted into pure gray, yellowish, yellow, and very yellow. Light and dark colors usually had the same price, and there was usually no price difference made between pure gray and pure gray.

Today's fur assortments are divided into sizes I, II and III, as well as dark, medium and light colors. While with other types of fur, the male animals usually achieve better prices, with the chinchillas it is the females, which have a larger one Have body.

The fur is delivered open, i.e. not peeled off round.

In Germany, chinchillas are now almost exclusively bred for keeping pets (2012).

Refinement, processing

Cutting the fur of a small chinchilla tippet (1895)
Dyed chinchilla blanket (2009)

The quality of the dressing (tanning) and the finishing of the skins play an important role in the quality of the fur to be processed . The fine leather should then be quick, tear-resistant and as resistant to aging as possible. Since the natural gray fur is undesirably more or less yellowish, the hair color is often improved, the fur is toned or blued. In the case of incorrectly colored skins or for fashion reasons, the hair is also dyed in all colors desired by the furriers or designers. For general refinement, see the main article →  Pelzveredlung .

The processing of the finished garment is much more difficult than with other types of fur because of the fine fur. In 1964, master furrier Rudolf Toursel from Düsseldorf pointed out some of the peculiarities in a work instruction for a jacket (abbreviated): On the head the hair is thinner and often fluttered up to almost the middle of the skin, after the pump it becomes very thick and the dark ones Tips emerge intensely. The pages are very thin, white, and fluttered. The slightest touch of water causes the hair to curl immediately, but becomes smooth again after drying. The leather is extremely thin - mainly in the upper third and on the sides - and tears easily. The white, thin sides are usually used because they can bring a vivid contrast into the whole. However, if you can afford to knock down the pages, the quality of the piece benefits. Although a chinchilla jacket z. B. If there is no fur to wear on, the very thin sides are quite sensitive areas. Due to the frequent occurrence of junior positions, opening up is usually quite uncomfortable. Care should be taken to ensure that the pressure on the ( fur sewing machine ) plates is set quite loosely, otherwise the leather can be perforated too easily. Each fur has a degree of tensile strength in length and width. If this is used beyond the portability, then the fur will tear immediately at this point. The finished piece is carefully used. You only use pins. No water should get into the hair when brushing, because the silky hair is too easy to squeeze and these pressure points are difficult to remove in the end. So you have to rub it carefully, preferably with a cloth, because the water immediately penetrates through the thin leather and lets the hair get wet. No fatty purpose water additives !!! They look very bad on the hair and can hardly be removed. Actually, you should pick up the pointed piece so that the hair doesn't get stuck out like that, but that's almost impossible because the leather is too spongy when it's wet and too much waves form on the needles. Chinchilla leather tears easily, but is surprisingly resistant to heat. The intended piece usually looks terrifying and is a disappointing sight. The crushed fur "calms down" again during further processing. A careful tapping lets the hair really play and the exquisite splendor of this noble material unfold to its full potential.

In 1965, the fur consumption for a fur sheet sufficient for a chinchilla coat was given as 150 to 200 pelts (so-called coat “body” ). 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 their origin. Depending on the type of fur, the three factors have different effects.

Due to the fine hair structure and the very thin leather, chinchilla skins are mainly used for evening fur , fur stoles and trimmings.

Chinchilla in connection with other types of fur

All high-quality fur types were and are more or less well imitated in the fur industry by fur refiners with low-quality fur types, for example sable , silver fox , mink and of course chinchilla. In particular, the inexpensive, abundant rabbits must serve for this purpose . Here, however, it has been possible to breed a breed that looks very similar to the chinchilla in its natural state, the chinchilla rabbit and the chinchillax rabbit. Since the fur does not have to be colored first, it makes a very beautiful fur without the blemish of the substitute material. (2 "Umschneiden" and cut in half lengthwise 1) or the narrow strip: in times lower wages Chinchilla Kaninfelle using complex techniques 1 were reduced 4 omitted in order to approximate the smaller chinchilla fur also in size.

Australian chinchilla , for Australian opossum fur
Chinchilla hare, originally arctic hare, which was colored chinchilla-like both in its naturally long hair and when it was shorn, later also for the chinchilla canine
the chinchilla cat , like the chinchilla rabbit, is only named because of its bred resemblance to the chinchilla
Chinchillette , shorn polar hare, dark Grotzen to whitish gray at the sides
Chinchillona , name for the viscacha skin , see above
Chinchilla rats, the fur industry uses this expression to summarize the small skins of several species of so-called fur rats, which in their natural state look like chinchillas, but their value is much lower. Almost all of them belong to the genera of the comb rats and the silkworms. The best known among them are the Patagonian crested rat and the little silk mouse.

  • Amalie of Greece with chinchilla muff and chinchilla-trimmed coat (1867)

  • Chinchillacape (1899)

  • Mae Murray (1885–1965) in the chinchilla cape

  • Headband, colored (2011)

  • Chinchilla coat (Greece, 2014)

Numbers and facts

Export permit for the Chapman chinchillas (Chile January 15, 1923)
Confirmation of the arrival of the Chapman chinchillas in the United States (April 19, 1923)
  • In 1863 , an average of 30,000 chinchilla skins were brought to the Leipzig market every year. The total annual production was 100,000 with a total value of 80,000 thalers. Real chinchillas cost around 15 to 20 thalers a dozen, bastards and chinchillona 2 to 3 thalers a dozen.
  • In 1890 Poland reported the total quantity of chinchilla skins of all kinds from the London auction company, together with 100,000 pieces. He rated the real ones at 89 shillings for the dozen, 8 shillings for the bastards and 5 shillings for the chinchillonas.
  • The first chinchilla breeding successes were achieved in Chile in 1895 .
  • In 1898 the export from Chile, the main supplier, was 392,388 chinchilla furs. In 1905 it had already dropped to 247,836, in 1914 it was only around 4,000. In the 1927/1928 season , not even 1,000 chinchillas were caught.
  • In 1899 chinchilla specialist Richard Gloeck achieved his greatest turnover with 78,500 chinchilla skins, which yielded up to 12.50 marks each. He bought his first direct goods from Felix Faure & Co. in Le Havre, which was later owned by the President of the French Republic.
  • For 1900 , Gloeck put his sales in Leipzig so far at around 300,000 pieces, with a maximum price of £ 4.05 for the fur. In 1910, its decreased annual turnover was 17,000 pieces, but the price of fur had risen to ₤ 32.15. In 1914 there were only 4,000 pieces at ₤ 60.70. Later, when only very small quantities came on the market, chinchilla was at the top of the price tables at ₤ 190.
  • For 1900 to 1915/19 Gloeck compiled the following figures from London auction catalogs in 1934, here with the maximum prices achieved in marks per fur:
Quantities and price movements in London
1900 approx. 300,000 piece to 17 M.
1901 approx. 300,000 piece to 20 M.
1902 approx. 175,000 piece to 26 M.
1903 approx. 150,000 piece to 18 M.
1904 approx. 111,000 piece to 25 M.
1905 approx. 45,000 piece to 37 M.
1906 approx. 45,000 piece to 37 M.
1907 approx. 56,000 piece to 36 M.
1908 approx. 52,000 piece to 35 M.
1909 approx. 24,000 piece to 135 M.
1910 approx. 17,000 piece to 135 M.
1911 approx. 13,500 piece to 150 M.
1912 approx. 21,000 piece to 180 M.
1913 approx. 4,000 piece to 150 M.
1914 approx. 4,000 piece to 155 M.
1915/19 Quantities unknown to 255 M.
  • In 1910 Emil Brass calculated the annual number of about 120,000 real chinchillas (Bolivianos and chinchillonas), including about 6000 of the very fine Peruvians and about 25,000 bastard chinchillas. A few years earlier, Chile alone exported 80 to 100,000 bastards a year. The real ones cost about 900 Mk. The dozen, the Bolivianos 500 Mk., Bastard chinchillas and chinchillonas about 300 Mk. The dozen. Currently about 2 to 3000 pieces and bastards about 6 to 8000 pieces are on the market annually. The price has also risen considerably, as the material is just too scarce in the prevailing fashion. Bolivianos and real ones today cost at least 8 to 10,000 gold marks, bastards 2 to 3,000 marks per dozen. At the moment the bulk of the skins up for sale go to New York, another part goes to London for auction, a small part goes straight to Paris and Havre. Almost nothing of it comes to Germany. Often the skins are sent to European banks as remittances because they are very valuable, take up little space and can always be used immediately. There has been a great shortage of chinchilla skins in Germany for a number of years, and these are very difficult to find when there is demand for them. But one does not dare to invest the high prices that New York and Paris pay for it when buying first hand. In contrast, a kind of “chinchilla substitute” finds a large market in Germany, the chinchilla rat.
  • In 1911 “Chinchilla King” Gloeck brought a chinchilla buck from Chile, kept in a family with two other animals, which lived with him for 11 years. He later acquired a female, but the hoped-for increase did not take place.
  • In 1925 the tobacco wholesaler Jonni Wende offered: Chinchilla: real 100 to 300 Reichsmarks; Bastard 35 to 70 Reichsmarks; Rats 6 to 11 Reichsmarks.
  • In 1926 , mining engineer Mathias F. Chapman founded the first chinchilla farm in Inglewood , California.
  • In 1927 the Swede Nilsson founded the first chinchilla farm in Argentina near Abra Pampa .
The Chapman breed had grown to 150 animals, the first breeding pair sold for $ 5,000.
  • In 1930 Ferger founded the first breed with the species Ch. Chinchilla boliviana in Chile .
  • In 1933 , a chinchilla breed pair was sold for $ 3,200.
  • In 1934 the Norwegian Holst brought 16 animals Ch. Chinchilla Boliviana to Norway.
  • In 1936 the first chinchilla breeders' association was founded, the National Chinchilla Breeder of America .
The amount of chinchilla pelts was already so low that it took a furrier in Milwaukee, USA five years to collect matching pelts before he could deliver the coat with a retail value of $ 25,000.
  • In the early 1950s, the first chinchilla fur auction took place in New York at the New York Auction Co. Top qualities that were only offered in small quantities - a few bundles - fetched prices of $ 75 to $ 150. Most of the goods were sold at much lower prices. They ranged from $ 10 to $ 15. Compared to the high expectations of the breeders, this first auction was a failure.
  • In March 1952 there were 8,600 chinchilla breeders in the USA with a total of around 250,000 chinchillas. The MF Chapmans breeding was named as one of the largest companies (see article), which was continued by his son after his death. Also in Canada there are said to have been many thousands of breeding animals at the time. In contrast to these dimensions, breeding had only been taken up to a very limited extent in Europe. - In practice, the pelts had not even appeared in the trade until then, the proceeds of the farms were almost exclusively achieved with the sale of breeding animals. The price of a breeding pair was still a substantial $ 600 to $ 900, up from $ 3,200 in 1940.
The National Chinchilla Breeders of America hosted the first ever chinchilla fur exhibition in California.
  • In 1953 the chinchilla breed became increasingly popular in the Federal Republic of Germany; Münzing and Zettl were the first to start breeding.
  • In 1954 , the first 10,850 chinchilla furs were auctioned in New York, the price for one fur was around 15 dollars. The lace skins were given the name Embrass .
  • In 1955 , mutation chinchilla breeding began in America.
  • In 1956 , the Farmers Cooperative of America burned 12,000 low-quality chinchilla skins.
  • The first chinchilla conference in Europe took place in 1957 .
Europe was added as a new market for American chinchillas, with over 20 percent of the skins going to European countries. The total, completely sold fur harvest amounted to 40,000 pieces that year. This also meant an increase of 700 percent in the demand of the American tobacco industry compared to 1954, when chinchilla was first offered on the market. The average price for Empress skins was $ 33.36 the year before, and top quality was $ 78. The average price for the entire product, including the Empress qualities, was $ 26.24. In 1957 the price rose by 63 percent with a 20 percent better coat quality.
  • In 1958 , the European chinchilla sales company Royal Chinchilla AG Zurich was established .
  • 1959 Chinchilla breeding begins in the GDR with 24 animals (breeding was discontinued in 1972).
  • In December 1960 , 100 pairs of chinchillas were exported from the USA to the Soviet Union to set up a breed.
In Europe, nine European chinchilla associations formed the Syndicate of the European Chinchilla Industry .
  • In 1961 , around 300 farms in Denmark with a population of 4,000 animals were dedicated to chinchilla breeding.
The first European chinchilla exhibition took place in Zurich.
  • In 1963 , the two largest chinchilla breeding organizations at the time, the Empress and Aurora Chinchilla Association, supplied around 100,000 furs. All skins went on sale ready-made. In 1970 , the two US companies merged to form a joint sales organization. Since most chinchilla skins were obtained in North America, breeders from other countries also usually sent their skins there, especially since in the USA, in contrast to most countries of origin, there were already efficient dressing and dyeing plants for the material.
In 1963 chinchilla breeding was practiced intensively by about 2000 breeders in South Africa and South West Africa (today Namibia ) for about four years. Most of them, however, only kept 10 to 12 animals, around 300 breeders kept more than 50 animals and over 100 breeders kept 100 or more females. The breeding animals came from the USA. A harvest of 2500 to 3000 skins was expected that year. The yield, however, was disappointing, as the skins were not of the desired quality at any rate, although the climatic conditions were assessed as very favorable for chinchilla breeding.
Chinchilla skins at the auction in Copenhagen (2009)
  • In 1963 , the top prices, which had been falling in any case, despite the constant improvement in quality due to continuous selection, collapsed again, around $ 45.00 was achieved for selected natural blue skins of female animals, the average price was between $ 16.00 and $ 18.00. The lowest grades brought in $ 1 to $ 5, if they could be sold at all. --- 90 percent of the skins were blued.
  • In 1967 , chinchilla breeders in Great Britain sold 12,000 to 15,000 furs annually. In addition to the countries mentioned above, Canada, France and Germany were of certain importance for the type of coat. At the time, the world pelt volume was around 100,000 pelts a year.
  • In 1968 the population of fur animals in the GDR breeding stock was: 1349 chinchillas, 268,685 mink , 75,684 nutrias and 3369 noble foxes .
  • In 1972 the GDR stopped breeding chinchillas again.
  • In 1976 the 1st National Chinchilla Show took place in Frankfurt am Main.
  • 1985 the 1st European-American Chinchilla Show took place in Crailsheim .
  • 1986 : The figures of the world supply of chinchillas given in the literature were quite different. In 1985/86 the Scandinavian breeder association SAGA names the USA with 37,000, Canada with 19,000, the Federal Republic at that time still with 15,000, Denmark with 6000, Argentina with 3000 and Austria with 2000 skins as main suppliers. The actual production is likely to have been significantly higher (at that time estimated at 200,000 to 300,000 skins).
  • In 2011 , the Copenhagen Fur auction house of Danish fur breeders put chinchilla skins of various national origins up for auction: in February 12,000 skins, in April 12,000 skins; 12,000 skins in June; 14,000 skins in September; 20,000 skins in December.
  • 2015 (accessed, without date of acquisition or delivery): The following quantities of chinchilla fur came into the trade from Europe:
Belgium: 100; Bosnia: 6,000; Czech Republic: 2,200; Denmark: 24,000; Estonia: 4,600; Hungary: 14,000; Romania: 17,000; Serbia: 10,000.

See also

Commons : Chinchilla Skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Chinchilla Skin Apparel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Chinchilla Skin Processing  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

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 ambiguous; in addition to the subjective observations of shelf life in practice, there are also influences from tanning and 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 10 percent each. The most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ H. Prell: About the naming of the chinchilla species and their fur. Verlag der Rauchwarenmarkt, Leipzig, pp. 3–4. Reprint from Der Rauchwarenmarkt , No. 84, 1934 and other issues.
  2. ↑ Harry Reinhardt Eckardt: The great manual of chinchilla breeding . Verlag Harry Eckardt, Miltenberg / Main 1972, p. 27 → Table of contents .
  3. ↑ a b c Fritz Schmidt : The development of chinchilla breeding. In: “Das Pelzgewerbe”, No. 5, supplement to the magazine “Hermelin” XXI. Volume 9/10. Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Leipzig 1952, pp. 9-14
  4. ↑ a b Siegfried scheibig: The most precious fur . Pelzfachzeitschrift (Rund um den Pelz?), September 1958, pp. 22–24
  5. ↑ George R. Cripps: About Furs . Daily Post Printers, Liverpool 1913, p. 78 (English) Did you ever meet a really bourgeoise person fond of chinchilla. Ermine you have encountered on beauties and - others? Sealskin you know to be favored by the wealthy and wise, but is a gentlewoman only who loves chinchilla. ( Table of contents ).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ´s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, pp. 205–210
  7. ↑ Joachim Wussow: About the chinchilla's coat . In: "Das Pelzgewerbe", Vol. XX / New Series, 1970, No. 4. Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 26-30. I.a. Secondary source E. Bickel. How fine is the chinchilla hair? In: "Der deutsche Pelztierzüchter" 37, 1963, pp. 10-11
  8. ↑ a b c d Dr. Heinrich Dathe , Dr. Paul Schöps, with the collaboration of 11 specialists: Fur Animal Atlas . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1986, pp. 111-113
  9. ↑ a b c d e f Dr. Fritz Schmidt: The book of the fur animals and pelts . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970, pp. 16-17
  10. ↑ Dr. Paul Schöps; Dr. H. Brauckhoff, Stuttgart; K. Häse, Leipzig, Richard König , Frankfurt / Main; W. Straube-Daiber, Stuttgart: The durability coefficients of fur skins in Das Pelzgewerbe , Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, pp. 56–58
  11. ↑ Editor: The durability of fur hair . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt Nr. 26, Leipzig, June 28, 1940, p. 12. Primary source: American Fur Breeder , USA (Note: All comparisons put the sea otter fur at 100 percent). → Comparison of durability .
  12. ↑ 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
  13. ↑ a b c Siegfried Scheibig: Chinchilla conquers fashion . Pelzfachzeitschrift (Rund um den Pelz?), December 1958, pp. 22–24
  14. ^ Correspondent from Vienna: The ear of the great chinchilla. In: Die Pelzkonfektion No. 6, supplement to Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 32/33, March 19, 1932, pp. 7–8.
  15. ^ Paul Schöps, in collaboration with Leopold Hermsdorf and Richard König : The range of tobacco products . Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Leipzig, Berlin 1949, p. 18. Book cover .
  16. ↑ H. Prell: Chinchilla and Chinchillona. In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 62, Leipzig, August 8, 1934, pp. 3-4.
  17. ↑ a b For Chinchillona s. also -z .: fur animals and smoked goods (continued). In: “Die Kürschnerfibel” No. 1/2, Volume 10, February 15, 1942, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Leipzig, pp. 6-8. It may now be that in the tobacco shop, in addition to the skins of Cuvier's rabbit mouse, better mountain viscacha skins from higher mountain regions have been referred to in the narrower sense with the expression “chinchillona”.
  18. ↑ a b c d Richard Gloeck (Leipzig chinchilla fur dealer): Chinchilla memories . In: "Der Deutsche Pelztierzüchter (Deutsche Pelztierzüchter-Zeitung)", year 9, 1934, FC Mayer-Verlag, Munich, pp. 12-13
  19. ^ Author collective: Der Kürschner. Technical and textbook for the furrier trade. 2nd revised edition. Published by the Vocational Training Committee of the Central Association of the Furrier Trade, JP Bachem Publishing House, Cologne 1956, p. 217
  20. ↑ Edmund Bickel: South American chinchillas, how to keep and breed them . P. 24. Primary source José de Acosta : Historica Natural y Moral de los Indios (Natural and Moral History of the Indians) , Seville 1591.
  21. ↑ " Mais toutes s'accordent pour desirer cartains peaux de chat sauvage qu 'on dit revenir de l'amerique du Sud et qui s'appelle le Chinchille. Il n'y en a, parait-il, qu'une vingtaine en Europe et quatre ou cinq Parisiennes seulement ont la chance d'en posseder ”. Quote from Jean Rubiquet: La vie quotitienne au temps de Napoleon . Paris 1843 (secondary source Fritz Schmidt )
  22. ^ FA Brockhaus: General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts. Published by JS Ed and IG Gruber, Leipzig 1841. Third Section OZ, keyword "Fur"
  23. ^ 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. 398 ( → table of contents ).
  24. ↑ Edmund Bickel: South American chinchillas, how to keep and breed them . Albrecht Philler Verlag, Minden (Westf.) 1961, p. 122.
  25. ↑ a b Josef Zettl: The chinchilla . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich-Solln, 1953, p. 9, 41-45.
  26. ↑ MI .: Chinchilla hunting prohibited in Peru . In: Daily newspaper "Der Rauchwarenmarkt", No. 57, 9th year, Leipzig, March 10, 1921, p. 1
  27. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Ulf D. Wenzel: Das Furztierbuch. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Cologne 1990, pp. 26-29
  28. ↑ In: Der Spiegel: The market is waiting. Retrieved February 2, 2011
  29. ↑ a b c d e f g Roi: Reports from international specialist journals . In: "Das Pelzgewerbe", Vol. XIV / New Series, 1963, No. 6. Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 220-223
  30. ^ Marie Louise Steinbauer, Rudolf Kinzel: Marie Louise - furs . Steinbock Verlag, Hannover 1973, p. 191
  31. ↑ Fritz Schmidt : About the development and the current status of chinchilla breeding . In: “All about fur” No. 4, Rhenania Verlag, Koblenz 1956, pp. 18–52
  32. ↑ Special Chinchilla Type for Sale . In: News , Kopenhagen Fur, Copenhagen September 2011, p. 8
  33. ↑ Paul Larisch , Josef Schmid: The furrier craft . Part II, self-published in Paris, approx. 1902/1903, p. 61.
  34. ↑ Rudolf Toursel : Chinchilla processing 1-2 - jacket body lengthways and crossways . January 1964
  35. ↑ Paul Schöps among others: The material requirement for fur clothing . In: Das Pelzgewerbe Vol. XVI / New Series 1965 No. 1, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., 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.
  36. ↑ H .: Greater Germany fur skins and their processing (19th continuation) . Kürschnerzeitung 58th vol. No. 22, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Leipzig August 1, 1941; 288 - Note: With the so-called 1: 2 trimming, the fur is cut into narrow strips. Every second strip is removed, the remainder and the remaining strips are sewn together again to what now appears to be two skins (1: 2).
  37. ^ Catalog The Fur House Max Neuburger & Co, No 598 Broadway, New York, Season 1910-1108
  38. ↑ a b c Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and rough goods. XVII. Tape. Verlag Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949. Keywords "chinchilla bunnies", "chinchilla cats", "chinchillettes"
  39. ^ Friedrich Lorenz: Rauchwarenkunde , 4th edition. Volk und Wissen publishing house, Berlin 1958, p. 46
  40. ↑ [[: File: The smoking goods trade by Heinrich Lomer, 1864 (page 43); Import of tobacco products to Leipzig 1863.jpg | Heinrich Lomer : Der Rauchwaarenhandel , 1864. Table of imports of smoking goods to Leipzig 1863 (page 43)]]
  41. ↑ Heinrich Lomer: Der Rauchwaarenhandel , 1864. Table of annual total fur production (page 51)
  42. ↑ a b c Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . Verlag der "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1923, pp. 728–734 (Brass also provides extensive statistics in this work)
  43. ↑ Jonni Wende company brochure, Rauchwaren en wholesale, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, New York, August 1925, p. 5
  44. ↑ Editor: A precious fur ornament . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 33, Berlin August 14, 1936, p. 2.
  45. ↑ a b c Dr. Dieter Wieland: Organization of the tobacco market . CB-Verlag Carl Boldt, Berlin, Frankfurt 1972, p. 102. ISBN 3-920731-01-8 . Primary source: Association of breeding communities : Without author: Fitzgerald and Mandel Honored for Unified Chinchilla Marketing Plan . In: “Fur Review” London May 1970, p. 48. - Primary source Great Britain 1970: Without author: CPMA at ACK In: “Fur Review”, London May 1967, p. 78
  46. ↑ Without author: Fur farming in Denmark . In: "Das Pelzgewerbe", Vol. XII / New Series, 1961, No. 5. Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., P. 232
  47. ↑ "Copenhagen Fur Preliminary Sales Program" for the corresponding months (English)
  48. ↑ www.furinformationcenter.eu: Facts: European fur production ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 9, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.furinformationcenter.eu