Arctic fox fur

Textile with white fox (Daniel Kohavi, 2016)

The arctic fox or ice fox , also called arctic fox and stone fox , is divided zoologically into two colors, the blue fox and the white fox . This article deals with the fur of the white fox as a commodity, the fur of the arctic fox or white fox ; for that of the blue fox see → blue fox fur .

The white fox, the color variety of the ice or arctic fox lives in the entire northern polar zone. The retail trade seldom differentiates between the arctic fox fur and the white fox form of the blue fox, mostly the unequal fur types are offered as white foxes, even a Scandinavian auction house describes pure white blue foxes as white foxes. However, actual arctic fox pelts are relatively few in the trade.

The fur trade ranks the arctic fox fur among the so-called noble fox fur , such as the silver fox fur , the blue fox fur and the cross fox fur .

• The wild European populations of the arctic fox or arctic fox are strictly protected under the Federal Species Protection Ordinance.

Arctic fox fur

hide

The fur of the arctic or white fox is about 46 to 68 cm long, the tail 30 to 40 cm. The fur size is often different in the different years, even if the pelts come from the same territory, this is probably due to the different food supply, especially the occurrence of lemmings. The pelts from eastern Canada are slightly smaller than those from the west. Early catches are smaller than late ones. The trappers were aware of this, but the occurrence is greater in spring, so they accepted it because of the higher yield. Farm animals are on average significantly larger. The paws are densely hairy in winter. The fur is on average smaller and the tail shorter than the blue fox; the very soft hair is long, finely silky (more silky than that of the red fox and the blue fox), partly long awning, the dense undercoat has the strongest matting of all fox species. Smaller skins are sometimes silky in the hair than big ones.

The summer fur of the white fox is stone gray to gray-brownish, almost olive-brown, sometimes even darker, with fox-red tones; the flanks are correspondingly lighter, the belly is whitish, the legs are colored like the flanks. The legs and their soles are brownish gray. In the developing young foxes, a distinction is made between considerably large differences in the hardening phases. From the dark stripe on the back a dark band runs down to the legs in a cross shape, hence the name “cross fox” for the summer fur. The tail is brownish above, otherwise lighter with pale red fox shades, the head is brownish-gray, the ears are gray-brown behind and white inside.

The winter coat is pure white, sometimes from a delicate cream color to yellowish. The undercoat is white to blue-white. Further distinctions between the stages of development in the section → Trade, History . The arctic fox wears its full winter fur from December to January. In Greenland, the coat stays white all year round because of the short summer.

With an average of 4.6 cm, the winter hair awn is twice as long as in summer, the under hair is 3.8 cm long. The winter hair is also thicker. 97 percent of the hair is wool, only 3 percent awn.

In general, the undercoat is very strong and does not always cover the upper hair well. When brushed over with the hand, the dense, blunt lower hair offers more resistance than with a well-awned coat. Woolly pelts have rubbed sumps (rear parts of the fur).

The durability coefficient for noble fox skins is given as 50 to 60 percent. When the fur animals are divided into the hair fineness classes silky, fine, medium-fine, coarse and hard, the white fox hair is classified as fine.

Trade, history

White fox skins on the sales table of furrier Nicolaus Remshardt from Göppingen. His sign on the exhibition stand (around 1800)

The blue fox fur has always been considered more valuable than that of the white fox. In some areas, targeted hunting of the blue foxes shifted the former balance in favor of the white foxes; on the Bering Island the blue foxes were destroyed “except for a meager remnant”. In 1858 a Russian decree even ordered the killing of all white foxes while restricting the hunt for the blue fox.

In 1762 the import of white foxes from "Russia, North and Poland" is mentioned. The Hungarian furs are fed with these fox hides . In 1883 the frequent use of white fox fur in Poland and Russia itself and in Turkey is mentioned: "Furs with white fox lining are particularly popular among Turkish women."

In 1821 the Englishman John Dundas Cochrane found an already well-organized Chukchi fur market "in the most remote corner of Siberia" , on the ice of the Anjui River behind Nizhny Kolymsk. The valuable black fox skins were offered there for 35 to 210 thalers, the silver foxes for 70 thalers, red and gray foxes for 14 to 21 thalers, fire foxes for 5 thalers, blue foxes for 2 to 3 thalers and white fox skins for ⅔ to 2 thalers.

Kapatak, hooded Inuit jacket made of bear and arctic fox fur ( Qaanaaq , Greenland 1973)

Allegedly with a diva who caused a sensation with a white fox fur, the great time of white fox fashion began. In 1931 another diva, the actress Marlene Dietrich , caused quite a stir when she appeared at the Berlin press ball with “a fairytale evening coat made of white crepe suéde with six white foxes as trimmings from the Max Becker model house” .

Up until the summer of 1915, hardly a trapper had bothered to catch the fox with the lower quality fur; only the Eskimos used it to feed their trousers. The Eskimos also later delivered the skins without the front paws, which they kept as a souvenir, probably from a religious tradition. In the previous fishing area of ​​the Hudson's Bay Company there were hardly any white foxes, so part of the hunt with the help of the local Inuit was shifted to the Canadian Antarctica, which was previously only visited by individual expeditions. The trading posts were soon so far north that the polar explorer Knud Rasmussen (* 1879 † 1933) already wrote: “ Along Canada's Arctic coast lies like a single steel scissors trap next to a trap that mercilessly beats together over every careless white fox that breaks away from the inviting bait seduced ". With the hunt for the arctic fox Canada also practically took possession of the arctic islands, the whole organization there was only created for that purpose. According to the Canadian Dominion Bureau of Statistics, the annual yield before 1970 was around 45 to 55 thousand furs, compared to only a few hundred of the rare blue foxes there.

The white fox was one of the main livelihoods of the Russian population who lived from hunting. When heavy hunting led to an extreme decline in populations and at the same time market prices collapsed, this had a catastrophic effect on the economic conditions of the indigenous people of northern Canada and Alaska in the early 1930s. In the 1960s, around 65 thousand pelts were sold from there every year. In North America, blue and white fox skins were a kind of fur money in exchange with the Eskimos.

The summer fur of the arctic fox is not traded. However, until the First World War , these downy skins were a sought-after item for light, but warm and durable food, but hunting and catching arctic foxes are now prohibited at this age. Furs hunted shortly before (flat, bluish) or after the main season (“ragged shedding”) are considered practically worthless.

Russian trade describes the individual stages of development for white foxes as follows:

Matthew Henson (* 1866; † 1955) right after a polar expedition, wearing a reindeer fur jacket disguised as a polar fox

Actress Mildred Davis in an ermine and arctic fox coat (1925)

Kopanez (tombs)

Until the 10th day of life.

Slepuschonka

1 to 2 months old; Fur dark brown, almost black; with sparse guard hairs.

Nornik (cave dwellers)

2 to 4 months old; Fur brown; Guard hairs somewhat more abundant.

Krestowatik, Krestowatiki (cross fox)

Summer hair. Lightened hair on dewlap and sides. A brown stripe along the back and shoulders forms a kind of cross.

Sinjak (blue) or Tschajachnik

6 to 8 months old; heather gray, bluish (lead-colored). September to mid-October.

Nedopesok (pios = the dog)

Mid to late October: greyish white; sparse brown guard hairs, bluish blue undercoat.

Polny, Rosly, Doschly (white fox)

From November: white winter fur with thick, lush hair; Partially slightly bluish shimmer on the hair base, occasional bluish-dark brown awns.

Veschnjak

End of winter: less hairiness.

Gagara

From April: During the hair change, the fur has hardly any awns.

• Furthermore, a distinction is made between the coastal foxes and the lemming foxes, the occurrence of the white foxes coincides with that of their main food, the lemmings.

Come here

1. Russia-Siberia	Novaja-Semilia = best quality, lush, silky coat with high awn, thick undercoat; snow white.
	Jakutsky = Somewhat smaller, lush hair cover , silky soft; thin awn, dense undercoat, pure white.
	Obdorsky = medium in size; not so lush; significantly less silky, short awn, dense undercoat; white, partly slightly cream-colored.
	Pechora = small; not lush, short awn, little undercoat. White, sometimes a little bluish (“skimmed milk color”).
2. Scandinavia	Svalbard, Northern Norway (Finnmarken) . Similar to the Russian-Siberian, but considerably smaller and lower in quality.
3. Iceland-Greenland	Small to medium in size; medium smoke, lower in quality. Partly white, partly yellowish. Occasionally black-awned (gray-tipped). Good for coloring.
4. North America	Finer hair than the Russian-Siberian tradition.
	Alaska, Yukon (Territory) = Large; smoke, very silky; White. From the west coast coarser in the hair.
	Hudson Bay Territories = Large; strong hair, very silky; mostly white, sometimes slightly yellowish.
	Labrador = very big; very silky; White. Finest varieties: Whale River, District, York Fort and Escimo Bay.

Auction assortments (as of 1988)

a) Russian standard
Come here:	Novosemolsky, Kamtschatsky, Jenniseisky, Jakutsky, Obdorsky, Petschorsky, Mesensky
Sorts:	I. variety: full-haired
	II. Variety: less full-haired
	III. Variety: flat-haired
	IV. Variety: flat-haired, slightly damaged, heavily damaged, unusable
b) Hudson`s Bay and Annings Ltd., London
Assortments:	Canada, Soviet, Scandinavian
Sizes:	I, II, III, IV, damaged
Colours:	pure white, slightly yellowish, with a distinction between greasy (fatty) and stained (slightly yellowish). Oily (tranige) locations are in the dressing no longer completely white, but remain yellow.
c) The Royal Greenland Trade Department, Copenhagen
Assortments:	Greenland, Iceland
Sizes:	exlarge, large, medium, small
Colours:	clear white (pure white), ivory (ivory), yellow belly (yellowish dewlap), yellow (yellowish), mixed

Because of the better protection of the hair, the American trappers usually deliver the pelts with the leather side facing outwards, wholesalers sell white fox skins of all origins with the fur side facing outwards because of the better evaluation option. ^{(Note: the latter should relate to already tanned skins)}

Because of the evenly white color, defects in the white fox are more difficult to detect than in other types of fur. A technical report therefore gives detailed instructions for this:

“ The fur is placed over the left upper arm, initially with the head and neck: the other, larger part, meanwhile, hangs down on the outside of the forearm. Then the part of the fur resting on the forearm - the neck - is held up to the light to see whether the upper hair (the awn) is evenly developed both in the middle of the fur and on the sides. "

" Once this test has taken place, the fur is gripped by the head with the right hand and slowly pulled down over the forearm to the pump . During this manipulation, the fur area is checked for the growth of the upper hair in the manner indicated above. "

Arctic fox fur, as of 1911, after tobacco dealer Emil Brass

Julia Potocka (1764–1794) with arctic fox stock, Poland

Lady with arctic fox stole and muff. A young fox seems to be peeking out from above the muff (Berlin, 1912)

In 1911, the Berlin fur dealer Emil Brass wrote about arctic fox pelts:

The arctic fox found on Svalbard , Greenland , Iceland and possibly on the Faroe Islands is much smaller than the American white fox with a length of 60 cm. The hair is thick, long and silky, the tail round and stocky with thick woolly hair. The Royal Greenlandic Handlung brought 800 to 1000 skins to Copenhagen for auction every year, which were sorted into four qualities, of the best type there were always only a few available. About the same amount was probably delivered via the ports of Drontheim , Bergen , Tromsø , etc.

The fox, which was very numerous in Labrador at the time, is significantly larger than the Greenland fox, but also very fine in hair. The best come from the Little Whale River District .

A large white fox with somewhat coarser hair lives on the coast of the Hudson's Bay, the Barrengrounds . The fox on the west coast of Alaska is also tall with coarse hair. On the island of Kadiak there is a coarse-haired large white fox with a short, wide skull. A somewhat smaller species lives on the Bering Island . In Vitus Bering's time († 1741) there were “unbelievable amounts of both blue foxes and white foxes” .

The Hudson's Bay Company sold around 6,000 to 8,000 white fox skins each year. The Harmony Company in Labrador, run by the Moravian Missionaries , sold around 1000 skins annually via London. About 8,000 to 10,000 North American skins came from the Lampson Company, most of them from the west coast. About the same amount came from the polar zone above Seattle and San Francisco, but they were mostly consumed in the United States. The white foxes on the Siberian Arctic coast were also very numerous . The best came from the Jenisseisky -Distrikt, then from the Yakutsky -Distrikt and the Olenek and Kolyma . This species is very similar to that of Hudson Bay, the foxes are much larger than the Greenlandic skins. Many of them are yellowish in color. At least 60,000 of them were sold annually, mostly via Irbit and Nizhny Novgorod .

The value of an arctic fox skin fluctuated between 20 and 60 marks before 1911, while that of a blue fox between 60 and 200 marks.

Refinement, processing

Julie Depardieu with a wide feathered white fox collar (2006)

The arctic fox hair is significantly softer than that of the red fox, the undercoat is so matted that you cannot see the leather when you blow it into it. In the finished fur, even interposed leather strips cannot be found if they were sewn in according to traditional furrier art without tearing the hair fleece. This technique, known as galloping , was therefore particularly used for arctic fox skins. Here, in addition to increasing the surface of the fur, it also loosens and beautifies the hair. Because of the extremely dense, matted undercoat, the arctic fox does not run the risk of seeing the sewn-in leather strips when the fur is bent properly. Arctic fox skins are relatively short, so that the once so popular fox necklaces could not be made from one skin without galonizing, especially if the underside should be made of fur and not silk.

Advertising company Fourrures André Brunswick (ca.1930)

If the arctic fox skins are not pure white or have already yellowed, they are beautified and bleached with optical brighteners . Goods intended for dyeing are also often lightened beforehand in order to obtain a clearer color and a more uniform range. For the refinement of fur in general, see the main article →  Pelzveredlung .

All types of white fox skins are either left white or dyed. In 1928 the dyeing of the often blotchy skins in an even blue-gray is mentioned for “ the wonderfully beautiful, sought-after spring and summer fur ”, as well as the colors platinum, silver -gray , beige, orange and marten.

White foxes colored slate gray were traded under the name Slate fox. If other fox species that are not classified as noble foxes were slate-dyed, according to a report by the Leipzig Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1936, they would have to be given an explanatory note, such as “red fox dyed on slate” or “Mongolian fox dyed on slate” or “country fox dyed on slate” or similar.

The white, undyed fox skins are processed into trimmings and small parts to a special extent. Incidentally, they are the classic material for festive furs, scarves, coats and jackets, and formerly also used to a large extent for necklaces , sleeves and garments. But the dyed skins, in addition to jacket and coat trimmings and hood trimmings, serve similar purposes.

In 1965 the fur consumption for a fur board sufficient for a white fox coat was given as 14 to 16 larger, or 17 to 20 smaller fur (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.

As with most types of fur, the polar or white fox uses every part of its fur. Fox pieces, fox sponges and fox paw panels are made from the fur residues that fall off during processing . The main place for the recycling of the fur residues in Europe is Kastoria in Greece as well as the smaller town Siatista, which is located nearby . These semi-finished products are for the most part re-exported and then made into fur linings , jackets, coats and trimmings. Hood trimmings are made from the tails, they also serve as pendants for key rings, bags, etc., and also as boas in appropriate fashion .

Numbers and facts

• In 1910 , for example, 50,000 white fox pelts from Asia, 30,000 from America and 3,000 from Europe (6,000 blue fox skins from America, 4,000 from Siberia and 1,000 from Northern Europe).

• In 1925 the annual production of white fox skins was estimated as follows: 30,000 for North America, 25,000 for Asia and 10,000 for Europe.

During this year, the United States Department of Agriculture issued 92 permits to capture white foxes in Alaska for breeding purposes and 33 permits to kill white foxes.

A number of farms existed on the Seward Peninsula on which initial attempts at keeping the white fox had begun.

• Before 1944 , the maximum price for natural or colored white fox skins was:

best 245 RM; medium 200 RM, low 75 RM

Blue fox: best 350 RM; medium 500 RM.

• In 1968 , the total number of arctic foxes living in the wild was estimated at 200,000 for the tundras of the Soviet Union and between 140,000 and 160,000 for North America.

• In 1988 no precise figures were available for the annual incidence. In North America at that time there were 40,000 to 50,000 blue and white fox skins of wild animals, of which it is estimated that half are blue foxes. The Canadian statistics from 1985/86 showed about 6000 skins for Canada. In 1987, 5000 skins were offered at Russian auctions.

• Annual arctic fox skins in Canada, average unit price (season 1945/46 to 1973/74) :

White and red fox skins. Entry in the ledger of the Leipzig tobacco shop Soter Keskari in 1868

1945/46 to 1958/59

season	number	canada. $
1945/46	27,169	22.83
1946/47	67,314	13.49
1947/48	55,423	11.12
1948/49	33.126	8.91
1949/50	19,775	8.45
1950/51	52,566	13.02
1951/52	53,654	8.16
1952/53	40.710	8.86
1953/54	36,370	11.10
1954/55	81,783	11.39
1955/56	31,728	13.14
1956/57	28,338	16.28
1957/58	31,890	15.26
1958/59	26,539	19.97

1959/60 to 1973/74

season	number	canada. $
1959/60	14,457	24.44
1960/61	51,995	19.49
1961/62	45,358	11.27
1962/63	9,880	14.42
1963/64	32,447	14.92
1964/65	40,831	10.34
1965/66	11,656	10.34
1966/67	34,126	15.67
1967/68	29,683	11.37
1968/69	20,231	14.10
1969/70	7,363	13.91
1970/71	26,218	12.30
1971/72	33,655	11.40
1972/73	10.146	19.32
1973/74	53,415	32.34

• Distribution of the volume in the Canadian territories and provinces in the seasons 1972/73 + 1973/74 and 2007 (2608 skins) + 2008 (2514 skins)

	Newfoundland piece / dollar	Nova Scotia piece / dollar	Québec piece / dollar	Ontario pieces / dollar	Manitoba piece / dollar	Saskat- chewan pieces / dollar	Alberta piece / dollar	Northwest Territories piece / dollar	Yukon (Territory) piece / dollar	Nunavut piece / dollar
1972/73	- / -	8 / $ 26.00	921 / $ 26.00	- / -	63 / $ 27.4	7 / $ 26.43	37 / $ 942	8,975 / $ 18.32	2,264 / $ 80.00
1973/74	12 / $ 18.25	34 / $ 34.50	12,531 / $ 39.00	18 / $?	61 / $ 36.33	19 / $ 31.84	136 / $ 43.16	40,555 / $ 30.21	2,950 / $ 100.73
2007	0/0	0/0	358 / $ 19.86	6 / $ 13.00	20 / $ 19.55	0/0	0/0	346 / $ 20.75	0/0	1,878 / $ 21.32
2008	0/0	0/0	514 / $ 15.31	1 / $ 25.00	77 / $ 20.45	2 / $ 23.00	0/0	858 / $ 19.88	3 / $ 16.00	1,059 / $ 20.93

See also

Commons : polar or white fox skins  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Arctic or white fox fur clothing  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Fox fur processing  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Arctic fox fur  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Other types of fox fur
• fur
• Furrier

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. ↑ ^{a b c} Dr. Paul Schöps, Kurt Häse: About the range of white foxes . Using Canadian sources (Terence Huttle). In: Das Pelzgewerbe , new series vol. XXI No. 4, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 3-7
2. ↑ Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Dr. med vet. hc Heinrich Dathe , Berlin; Dr. rer. pole. Paul Schöps, Leipzig with the collaboration of 11 specialists: Fur Animal Atlas . VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1986, pp. 131-133
3. ↑ 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
4. ↑ 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
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Fritz Schmidt : The book of the fur animals and fur . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970, pp. 203-213
6. ↑ Arthur Samet: Pictorial Encyclopedia of Furs . Arthur Samet (Book Division), New York 1950, pp. 226–229 (Eng.)
7. ↑ The Kirschner . In: JS Halle: Workshops for today's arts , Berlin 1762, see p. 309
8. ↑ Simon Greger: The furrier art . 4th edition, Bernhard Friedrich Voigt; Weimar 1883, p. 20. (130th volume in the series Neuer Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke ).
9. ↑ Bruno Schier : Ways and forms of the oldest fur trade in Europe . Archive for fur studies Volume 1, Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Frankfurt am Main 1951, p. 54. Table of contents .
10. ↑ "FFS": Marlene Dietrich propagates the fox. In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 20, Leipzig, February 17, 1931, p. 3.
11. ^ AR Harding: Fur Buyer's Guide . Self-published, Columbus, Ohio 1915, pp. 163–164 (Eng.)
12. ^ ^{A b} Max Bachrach: Fur. A Practical Treatise. F Verlag Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York 1936. pp. 286–288 (Eng.)
13. ↑ Helen Burgess: Arctic Furs Prime or Worthless? . In The Beaver , Outfit 297, Fall 1966, Hudson's Bay Company , Winnipeg, p. 27.
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Christian Franke / Johanna Kroll: Jury Fränkel's Rauchwaren-Handbuch 1988/89 . 10. revised and supplemented new edition, Rifra-Verlag Murrhardt, pp. 134-135
15. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, pp. 465–468.
16. ↑ Alexander Tuma jun: The practice of the furrier . Published by Julius Springer, Vienna 1928, pp. 304–305
17. ↑ Editor: A definition of the term Slate fox . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 13, Leipzig, March 27, 1936, p. 2.
18. ↑ 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.
19. ↑ Paul Cubaeus, Alexander Tuma (revised): The whole of Skinning . 2nd edition, A. Hartleben's Verlag, Vienna, Pest, Leipzig 1911. p. 105
20. ↑ ^{a b c} Department of Agriculture of the United States of America (ed.): The blue fox on Alaska. In: “Die Pelzkonfektion”, Volume 2, No. 1, Berlin January 1926, p. 46
21. ^ Friedrich Malm, August Dietzsch: The art of the furrier. Fachbuchverlag Leipzig 1951, p. 58.
22. ^ ^{A b} Arthur C. Prentice: A Candid View of the Fur Industry . Publishing Company Ltd., Bewdley, Ontario 1976 (Eng.)
23. ↑ Statistics Canada: Ottawa October 2010, accessed December 20, 2011