Lion skin

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Lion skins are used almost exclusively as hunting trophies or as tapestries. They are not very attractive for modern clothing and are unsuitable due to the coarse and thick hair and the lack of undercoat.

History, use

Lion skin as a rug (Gustave Courtois, 1880)

The lion skin is hardly usable for today's clothing purposes. Its appearance is not particularly appealing, the hair is quite short, thick and coarse except for the mane and the tail tassel. In the countries of origin, for climatic reasons, it was mostly not used for warming, but for men as jewelry and as an attribute of hunting, strength or a leading position in society. Lion skins were rarely used in modern fashion, they are almost only used as rugs or wall hangings, for which only skins with impressive manes are in demand. Larger fur shops used to use the fur to decorate their salesrooms. The fur also served "domestic purposes of the natives".

Nevertheless, fur was highly valued in ancient times. The Ethiopians in Xerxes' large army all wore lion skins. In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, the rulers attached animal tails to their state robes. According to some experts, jackal tails were valued higher than lion tails in ancient Egypt. Magical powers have even been ascribed to leopard and lion heads.

In many depictions Heracles or Hercules is shown wearing a lion's skin. The Nemean lion was an invulnerable creature in Greek mythology . Heracles strangled him to death and wrested him with his own claws, because only these were able to cut the animal's skin. Later he sewed a cloak out of the fur, which now made him almost invulnerable. Not only in Greek legends, for example, did the kings Agamemnon and Diomedes wear a lion skin on public occasions, but in many other places it was also considered a symbol of rulership.

As in almost all areas, the lion skins in Ethiopia were mainly used in the country itself. There they were used locally for parade suits for tribal chiefs and other dignitaries. The export was very small. The lion was hunted systematically in Sidamo , in Arussiland , in Caffa , in Gimma , Somaliland and in the lake area. Most of the money went to the Negushof as a tribute or gift .

The bare knuckle boxer Tom Cribb received the first championship belt made of lion skin when he retired in 1821.

When Nelson Mandela , freedom fighter and first black South African president, died in 2013, his body was wrapped in a lion skin for burial in his home village of Qunu according to the rites of his Xhosa tribe.

In 1965, the fur consumption for a fur board with 3 to 4 pelts sufficient for a lion's fur 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.

The durability coefficient for clothing made of lion skin is given as 50 to 60 percent.

hide

Bust of Heracles with the skin of the Nemean lion ( Colosseum , approx. 179-192)

The lion is the second largest cat after the tiger. Male animals reach a head body length of 170 to 250 centimeters, the tail is 90 to 100 centimeters long.

The relatively strong hair is short, no more than 8 to 20 millimeters long, and close-fitting. There is almost no undercoat. Young animal skins are woolly and soft. Only males have a mane. It spreads from the cheeks to over the shoulders, more rarely over the stomach and chest. The shape and color of the mane varies not only between individuals, but also in the same animal in the course of life, depending on the physical condition. At around two years of age, the mane is already clearly visible, and it has reached its full extent between four and five years of age. The mane hair is 8 to 25 inches long.

The adult tail ends with a tassel made of long bristles, usually dark in color, with a horny thorn between them.

The coloration differs in the various geographic locations. It ranges from uniformly gray-yellow to reddish-gray-yellow, without a distinctive mark, as is the case with most other cat species. Young animals, however, have an impressive drawing of black-brown spots and rosettes on a gray-yellow background, which can be retained in more or less expressionless remains even in adult specimens, especially the females. As a result of the black tips on the thicker yellow-brown hair, the fur often appears very slightly darkly coated. The underside and the inside of the legs are always lighter. Males are a little darker than females, the mane is usually dark brown, mixed with individual black hairs, but can also be black, light brown or reddish brown. Really black lions and real albino lions (with red eyes) are not known, the first white lions were seen in 1975 in South Africa in the Timbavati game reserve in the Kruger National Park .

The fur leather is very strong and heavy.

Differentiation according to origin (according to M ÁZAK )

  • Africa
Barber lion
The Berber lion was exterminated in the 1920s. They were large animals with a mighty mane of long hair that covered the neck, chest, shoulders and upper arms of the front limbs, as well as the stomach. There are strong tufts of hair on the elbows.
The basic color is quite dark, gray-yellow-brown, the tips of the hair are often black.
Head and neck mane are pale yellow to gray-brown, darker towards the back. The belly mane is interspersed with a matt dark brown to pale yellow. The tufts of hair on the elbow are also interspersed with dark brown and pale yellow.
The Berber lions were widespread in the Atlas Mountains, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
Nubian lion
  • Penelope on a Lion Skin Chair (Franklin Simmons, marble, 1896)
  • Simmons - Penelope De Young Museum 1991.68 left side.JPG
  • Simmons - Penelope De Young Museum 1991.68 animal skin detail 1.JPG
Mu Tu (1416–1433), Lijiang , Yunnan Province , China, on a lion skin throne
A smaller to medium-sized breed of lions that has also been eradicated, with a weaker mane that covers the neck and chest and extends to the shoulder blades. The upper arm is often mane-less, there are tufts of mane on the elbows, but often only weakly developed. The belly mane is always missing. The basic color is usually lighter, pale yellow to reddish yellow. The mane is light, mixed with brown hair.
On the limbs and unmistakably also on the tail, there are not particularly sharply contrasting horizontal stripes and spots from the surroundings, which regularly survive as traces of drawing of young animals until they become manhood.
There is no precise information on body size.
Distribution in Nubia, the middle and lower Nile valley, northern Sudan and possibly Libya.
Senegal lion
Medium-sized breed of lions with weak, relatively often almost missing mane. As far as the mane is developed, it tends to be short and covers the neck and chest, at the back it extends with a narrow strip to the shoulder blades. The upper arms are always maneless; the belly mane is never developed. The elbow tufts of hair are almost regularly absent or only hinted at.
The basic color is light, pale yellow to reddish yellow. The mane is the same color as the body, only sometimes it is mixed with brown hair, which does not darken the color very much. The young spotting does not survive as expressively to maturity as in the aforementioned breed, it actually always disappears. No noticeable super eye spots.
The total length of the males, head to tail, averages 250 centimeters.
The occurrence is West Africa south of the Sahara desert, from Senegal to Cameroon and to the area of ​​the Lake Chad and to North Oubangi Chari.
East African lion
A large breed of lions with considerable variations in color, girth, and size and color of the mane. The mane is usually much better developed than that of the Senegalese lion. It covers the neck, the chest and extends over the shoulder blades. The upper arms are always maneless; a mane is absent. There is a regular tuft of hair on the elbows. In addition to the standard well-trained mane, there are specimens with a very nice long mane, which only covers the body parts mentioned. Furthermore, there are specimens with very poorly maned or practically mane-less hair, in which even the elbow tufts of hair are missing (often from Somaliland, also from Tanganyika).
The basic color is pale yellow to gray-yellow or gray-reddish yellow. The juvenile spotting often lasts to maturity, especially in females, but not as pronounced as in the Nubian lion. The upper eye spots are not particularly prominent and are relatively small. The hair length varies between 8 and 17 millimeters.
The mane can be light, only partially mixed with brown hair, but also expressively dark to practically black.
Males are 250 to 300 centimeters long with tail, females 220 to 270 centimeters.
The East African lion is widespread in Somaliland, Ethiopia, South Sudan, northeast Congo (north of the Uelé River), Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Northern Mozambique. Transitions to the next form are in the area of ​​the Edward, Kivu and Tanganyika lakes.
Congo lion
A smaller breed of lions with a relatively weak and short-haired mane that only includes the neck and the front part of the chest. A narrow strip of longer hair runs from the neck to the withers, but it often does not reach the upper arms. The base of the neck and the upper arm are maneless; there is also no belly mane. The elbow tufts of hair are usually weak.
The basic color is rather gray, grayish pale yellow, in old age the distinctly preserved young drawing is practically always missing. The neck mane is light, pale yellow to pale brown, only darker in color above and near the base of the neck, mixed with black hair. The elbow tufts of hair are brownish to gray-brown.
The occurrences are the lower reaches of the Congo Current, North Angola, South Congo (Katanga), Southeast Congo and perhaps also the north and north-west fringes of Northern Rhodesia. The transition to the aforementioned breed is in the area of ​​the Edward, Kivu and Tanganyika lakes.
South African lion
The South African lion is said to be the most beautiful of the currently living lion races. The mane is regularly very well developed, it covers the neck and chest and extends with a wide strip on and over the shoulder blades. Sometimes it even falls to the upper part of the upper arms. There are strong tufts of hair on the elbows. The belly mane is never present, but a small or large tuft of long hair can form in the soft. There are specimens with relatively weak manes, but practically never without manes.
The basic color is quite variable, but mostly a little darker, pale yellow-brown. The tips of the hair are usually black, the tail dark to blackish in the rear quarter.
The mane is usually expressively darker than the body, dark gray-brown to brown-black or black. A light mane is rare. There are tufts of long hair on the elbows, possibly also in the points; in dark-maned animals they are also dark gray-brown or brown-black.
The total length including the tail of the males is 270 to 308 centimeters, the female 140 to 270 centimeters.
The South African lion is widespread in the Kruger National Park, Northern Transvaal, Southern Mozambique, southern parts of Zambia, Betuschanaland, Damarsland and Namayualand. In the past he apparently intervened a little further south, where he came into contact with the lion race described below.
Trailing legionnaire's uniform with lion skin
Cape lion
The Cape Lion was completely exterminated in the mid-19th century. It was a large breed of lions with a powerful mane that is even larger than that of the Berber lion. The mane covers the neck, chest, shoulders, upper arms and extends with a wide strip to and over the shoulder blades and beyond to the back. From there a strip of long hair rises along the rear edges of the upper arms, which are usually maneless in their lower part, and joins the richly developed elbow tufts of hair and the mane on the lower breast. A strip of long hair extends from the chest to the back of the stomach. The belly mane is longest in the back.
The basic color is relatively dark, grayish sand-brown, the hair tips are often black. The rear tail is dark to black
The mane is dark black-brown to black, only lighter in the head area. The elbow tufts and her belly mane are also dark to black.
The height of the male is 280 to 306 centimeters, the females 258 to 288.5 centimeters (measured in each case on prepared specimens).
The Cape lion was widespread in the southernmost part of Africa, in the Cape Country and the Southern Valley.
  • Eurasia
Persian lion
The Persian lion was exterminated in the first half of the 20th century. It was a medium-sized to small breed of lions with a well-developed mane, but not as girth as the Berber or Cape lions, except for the neck, chest and a mane strip over the shoulder blades, it also covered the stomach.
The basic color is quite dark, dirty gray-yellow or reddish-brown. The mane is usually darker in color than the body, interspersed with dark brown to black.
Exact information about the size is not known.
The occurrence of the Persian lion was Mesopotamia, western, southwest and southern Iran.
Indian lion
A large breed of lions with usually well-developed manes that cover the neck and chest and with a strip of long hair that extends to the withers. The upper arms have no mane, but behind their rear edges there are sometimes elongated hairs, which form a continuation of the mane, so to speak, which thus extends from the shoulders to the elbows. The elbow tufts of hair are well developed; long hair also grows relatively deep below the elbow. The belly mane is not developed.
The basic color is grayish, grayish isabel yellow or isabel yellow brown.
The mane is mostly light colored, only mixed in with brown hair.
The total length of the males is 260 to 280 centimeters, the females are much smaller.
The occurrence of the Indian lion is Gir Forest and Kathiawar, formerly also in Northwest and Central India.
European lion
Exact reports on the extinct European lion are not available. Helmut Hemmer studied old three-dimensional representations and assumes a fairly strong mane that covered the neck and chest. The European lion probably did not have a belly mane. The mane was apparently light colored.
The European lion was widespread on the Balkan Peninsula, in Asia Minor; further south-east it probably formed a transition to the Persian race.

  • Luo warrior with lion skin (between 1902 and 1913)

  • Ethiopian royal crown with lion's mane

  • Collar detail of Ethiopian clothing with mane hair

  • Lion Judas on a cape made of lion skin, Ethiopia

Numbers and facts

  • 1911 writes Emil Brass that the Barbary lion and almost wiped his skins are very valuable. Other lion skins came from animals in menageries and zoological gardens; they were better than the pelts found in the wild. A coat with a good mane from the zoo achieved around 1000 marks, an East African coat between 300 and 400 marks (1925 = up to 600 marks). Lioness skins were difficult to sell and therefore only worth about 50 marks. At that time, around 100 lion skins were sold annually (Larisch / Schmid published world trade figures for lion skins for the first time ten years earlier, they stated 200).

Web links

Commons : lion skins  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Clothing made from lion skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

See also

annotation

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 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.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel ´s Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, pp. 95-96.
  2. ↑ a b c Fritz Schmidt: The book of the fur animals and fur . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970, pp. 155–157.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h V. Mazák : The lion . In: Das Pelzgewerbe , Vol. XIX / New Series, 1968 Issue 3, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 3-27.
  4. ^ Francis Weiss : Furs in Archeology . In: Pelz International Issue 10, October 1980, p. 38.
  5. ↑ Hans-Günter Buchholz (Hsgr.): Recognition, rank and dignity . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, p. 100, ISBN 978-3-525-25443-1 .
  6. ^ A report from the Banco di Roma: Ethiopia and its fur production . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 31, Leipzig August 6, 1937, pp. 1–2.
  7. ↑ tomcribb.freeservers.com: Places of Interest in Tom Cribb's History . Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www1.wdr.de:/ 4,500 guests at the funeral service for Mandela . December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ www.geo.de, GEOlino No. 6/02: Britta Bombien: The kings of the lions . June 2006. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  12. ↑ Paul Schöps: The world production of fur work of the big cats . In: Hermelin XLI No. 6, Berlin and Leipzig, 1972, pp. 4-5.
  13. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 1st edition, published by the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, pp. 467-470.
  14. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition, publisher of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, pp. 388–390.