Indian lamb

Indian lambskin

In the fur industry, Indian lamb is the skin of young lambs of a fat sheep species from the former north-western India . Since the founding of the Republic of Pakistan , this has continued to include skins from northern Pakistan in industry jargon . In the tobacco wholesale trade , the differentiating terms Indian (Delhi) lamb and Pakistani (Multan) lambskins are now exclusively used .

Indian lambskins were initially processed into trimmings, then, including the more flat-haired Indian broadtail skins, mainly into jackets, coats, capes and stoles.

history

The first Indian and Pakistani lambskins came into the trade via the Leipzig fur trade center only in the mid-1920s, initially as Himalayan skins , later simply called "Indian" . It was the Leipzig tobacco merchant Leopold Hermsdorf from the Arthur Hermsdorf company who introduced the skins, previously only used by glove factories, into the fur industry and "thus founded a new industry". The fur processing companies around the tobacco goods trading center in Leipzig's Brühl succeeded in dyeing the fur in such a way that it became a "global success" "and again drew the eyes of all fur-processing countries to the color art of the Leipzig companies" "and gave them the huge quantities to dye" brought in.

These types of lambskin are quite hard-wearing to wear. The durability coefficient for Indian lamb was estimated on the basis of general experience to be 40 to 50 percent of the hardest-wearing type of fur. Initially only used as trimmings, Indian lamb has become a popular material for coats and jackets, especially due to the wide range of coloring options. At first, fur was only seen as an inexpensive substitute for Persians , but it soon became an independent article in fur fashion. The white skins are dyed in all fashionable colors without the need for a bleaching process that would damage the hair.

Historic trading centers for the Indian lambskins, which were mainly collected in Multan and Delhi , were Leipzig, Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main (see also the fur trading center in Niddastrasse ) and Garlick Hill in London.

Due to the reduced demand, most lambs are now used for meat rearing. It was noted that the failure rate, the so-called shot (= reject), had increased between 1984 and 1988 from the original 4 to 8 percent to 40 to 45 percent.

Fell, trade

Indian lamb jacket, beige colored, leather sleeves (Gütersloh, 1984)

The skins are smaller than Persian skins , as big as Shiras skins and larger than Syrian or Shantafoo lambskins. The Persian-like fur is moiré or curly, sometimes wavy (flamed). Good skins have a silky sheen, others are sometimes wiry (straw-like).

The closeness of the curl does not match that of the karakul , but it has its own quality. The low weight should be emphasized, even the coarser, heavier varieties are usually lighter than Persians. The skins are from one to three-day-old lambs, the skins of adult animals are not because of the already resolved Locke fur purposes suitable. The hair (wool) is then about 8 to 20 centimeters long.

Naturally colored skins are predominantly white, the heads, often up to the neck, black or brown. If the color extends further into the fur, they are referred to as "deepheads" (deep heads). About 5 percent of the skins are spotted. In practice, only white-haired pelts came into consideration for fur processing. The natural black skins are usually hard-haired and therefore less popular. In the 1960s, however, the refinement of tobacco products began to research suitable ways of making this color usable as fur articles.

While the Indian and Pakistani lambskins, initially in gray-white colors, were only viewed as an inexpensive substitute for Persians despite their good wearing properties, they were later an independent trade item. The starting color white makes them suitable for dyeing on all fashion colors without bleaching. Brown colorations caused considerable difficulties for the refiner until the 1950s; the loss was so unequal due to the different color receptivity of the skins that it was hardly possible to create furrier assortments. Later, two-tone skins with color names such as sarok (brown with a dark grunt ) or sourire (with a light middle of the skin, both from the Marco finishing company in Fürth ) were popular. The skins also tend to be hairy. However, the fit of the hair can be strengthened by taking suitable measures during the finishing process.

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  Sarok (dark middle of fur)

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  Sourire (light middle of fur)

Ensemble member of the Swingle Singers in an Indian lamb coat with a mink collar (1964)

The flat Indian broadtails (Indian moirés) were considered to be the noblest representatives of Indian lambskins . They were mostly dyed in lighter shades such as noisette, beige, violet or platinum, but they were also bleached white.

Indian and Pakistani lambskins are air-dried and stretched and delivered packed in bales. While around 1988 there were 400 to 500 pelts in a Pakistani bale, there were only 50 to 160 in an Indian bale. The low number of Indian lambskins is explained by the fact that so-called small exports in India were subsidized by the state. The sale does not take place via auctions, but exclusively by hand.

The best qualities of the Multan type come from the highlands of Gujranwala , the least from the Thar , the great Indian desert.

Assortments:

• Galjak (= bare fur)

Skins of premature or not yet fully developed, stillborn lambs. Small; as good as no or extremely flat hair (extremely smooth, not scratchable even with a finger ).

• Moirés

Short, still flat hair. More intensely patterned than Galjaks, also smokers, mostly glossy. Already the first peacock eye, oil or water drop drawing.

• Navalghar (Novalghar)

Navalghar only come from India, the name commonly used in retail trade is Indian Broadtail . The raw assortment includes all flat varieties from galjak to moiré. The actual Navalghar has the so-called Christmas tree drawing, which, according to Franke / Kroll, "is given to the hide with a blunt knife while it is still wet and raw and which is preserved until the finished hide"

• Nazuktcha (= the chosen one)

The curl diameter of the nazuktcha is 4–12 mm, the curl bundles are mostly tubular and have a moderate curl height. The hair is very silky, shiny and partly feathery. The head hair around the long ears, which are not cut off in the fur, reaches up to a third of the nigger curly into the coat.

• Guldar (the flower pattern)

The strong curls are similar to medium curly Persians. The raw assortments are very inconsistent.

• Broadspread

Broadspreads is the main type of raw material. As in the case of the Broad-tailed Persian, the drawing is broad.

• Small Curl (small Locke)

The horizontal diameter of the curls is 2-5 mm; the hair is coarse and wiry.

• Curl nigger (Negro Locke)

The skins have an even smaller curl than the small curls. The coarse hair is dull and dull. The skins were only available in small quantities, some of them were completely worthless, mostly they were consumed in the countries of origin. As far as they came on the market, the names were Lowgrades or Rejects .

• Woolly; goatlike; Heavies

The curl is already high, it is coarse and thick; the fur is heavy.

Occurrence:

• Multan (Pakistan)

The main collection and trading point for Multans is Pakistan. The hides delivered raw are first washed, air-dried and sorted here. The skins are larger than those from India; the side hair is often stringy. They are delivered with the heads, the Nazutchka with ears and with leg parts almost to the hoofs.

• Delhi (India)

The main trading center is India, the main market in Delhi "in the center of trade ('Sadar Bazar')". The area of the body of the raw hides is slightly smaller than that of Pakistani skins . In addition, the stubby tails are usually a little longer and the heads a little wider. The mostly air-dried skins are delivered with heads and without the lower part of the legs.

• Bombay (India)

The attack amounts to about 90 percent black and 10 percent natural brown fur, often with a black middle of the fur, or in a natural cream color. About a tenth of the skins are broad-tailed, the rest, which is mostly used in the country itself, is coarse and hard-haired.

In 1978 export estimates numbered 600,000 skins (80,000 of which were Navalghar)

1980 still 450,000–500,000 (of which 30,000–35,000 Navalghar)

1987 only 40,000–50,000 (of which 15,000–18,000 Navalghar)

processing

Indian lambskins are mostly used as whole skins, that is, the skins are sewn undivided next to and on top of each other. With plain-colored skins, if the middle of the skin, the grot, fits on the sides, they can also be processed with half-skins, as with Persians. For the side connections and the attachments, similar, rather smaller spikes and wave templates are used as in the Persian. Working a coat from this material often requires more time and skill than for a Persian coat.

On the sorting plate that has been set up, the processor decides whether the skins are more effective when worked with the head up, or if they are overturned, with the head down. In about eighty percent of the skins, the downside processing proves to be better. Even more than with the Persian, the longitudinal connections of the fur strips must be supplemented by cutting them out. Half-skinned processing is also recommended, but with the limiting note that this often does not allow a firm and pronounced grunt. It also depends on processing and fashion trends whether a more extensive, more complex work (half-fur) is preferred or whether fur by fur should be visible in the finished fur.

The processing of the Indian broad -tailed skins corresponds to that of the Persian broad-tailed skins , in particular the attachment seams usually have to be sewn by hand, often also the top seams .

In 1965 the fur consumption for a fur table with 30 to 40 pelts sufficient for an Indian lamb coat was given (so-called coat “body” ). It was based on a board with a length of 112 centimeters and an average width of 150 centimeters and an additional sleeve section. 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. In particular, Indian broad-tailed skins were also offered as coat or jacket bodies, mostly sewn entirely by hand, mainly made in Israel.

• Indian broadtail
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  Exhibition of the furrier trade 1982

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  Jacket, dyed, before 1990

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  Hand-sewn sleeve part, on the right the leather side

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  Top and bag, colored, relief work (Düsseldorf, 1999)

Remarks

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 most durable types of fur according to practical experience were set to 100 percent.
2. ↑ The information for a body was only given to make it easier to compare the types of fur. 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.

Web links

Commons : Indian Lamb Skins  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Commons : Indian Lamb Skins Clothing  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and Rough Goods, Volume XVII . Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949, p. 125–126, keyword “XX” .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ’s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10th revised and supplemented new edition. Rifra-Verlag, Murrhardt 1988, p. 290-292 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c} A. Ginzel: The color refinement of Indian lamb. In: All about fur. Issue 6, Rhenania-Verlag, Koblenz June 6, 1976, p. 38: After Ginzel first import, however, only "in 1930".
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, pp. 344–345 ( → table of contents ).
5. ↑ Paul Schöps; 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.
6. ^ ^{A b} Max Bachrach: Fur. A Practical Treatise. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York 1936. p. 488. (English).
7. ↑ ^{a b} A. G. (A. Ginzel?): Advances in German lambskin finishing. In: The fur industry. Berlin / Frankfurt am Main, March 3, 1960, pp. 86-93.
8. ↑ Market report by SRN Trading Company, Jaipur, India on various Indian lamb varieties, October 3, 1979 (English).
9. ↑ ^{a b} Author collective: Der Kürschner. Technical and textbook for the furrier trade. 2nd revised edition. Vocational training committee of the central association of the furrier trade (ed.), JP Bachem publishing house, Cologne 1956, p. 103. → Table of contents .
10. ↑ 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.