Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dyeing

by William E. Austin

CHAPTER III
FUR DRESSING
Introductory and Historical

Fur dressing has a twofold purpose. First of all, the putrefactive processes must be permanently stopped, so that the skin may be preserved as such, or worked up as some fur garment, without danger of decomposition. Having taken measures to assure the endurance or relative permanency of the pelt, the prime consideration is, of course, the appearance of the hair. The hair must be so treated that all its inherent beauty is brought out to the fullest extent. It must be made clean and soft, and all the natural gloss must be preserved, and if possible, enhanced. The appearance of the leather is relatively unimportant, since it is not seen after the furs are made into garments. There are, however, certain qualities which it is essential for the leather to possess after being dressed, and these are, softness, lightness of weight, elasticity or stretch, and a certain firmness or ‘feel.’ In other words the important considerations in fur dressing are the employment of means, and the exercise of care to preserve or even improve those characteristics of the pelt which make it valuable.

The dressing of furs has many features in common with the manufacture of leather, which is a kindred art. But whereas in fur dressing the prime consideration is the appearance of the hair, and the leather is of secondary importance, in the production of leather, the hair plays no part at all, since it is entirely removed from the pelt. The fundamental points of resemblance between leather manufacture and fur dressing are in those processes and operations which are concerned with the preservation of the leather, and rendering it in the proper condition for use.

Both leather dressing and fur dressing have an origin which may be regarded as identical, and which dates back to the haziest periods of antiquity. In the course of satisfying his needs, primitive man killed the animals about him, and thus obtained his food. The killed animal also furnished a skin, which after undergoing certain manipulations and other treatments, could serve as a protective covering, ornament, or defensive weapon. Since the skin in its natural state was hardly fit for use because of its easy tendency to putrefaction, it is evident that man had to find some means of preventing this decay in a more or less permanent fashion, and moreover had to treat the skin so that it would be suitable for use, by rendering it soft and flexible. The discovery of means to accomplish these purposes was probably one of the first great steps forward on the path of progress and civilization.

There are evidences of the use of animal skins in the earliest periods of antiquity, in fact it is a usage which may be literally regarded as “old as the hills.” One of the earliest written records of the employment of the skins of animals as garments, is in the Old Testament, where it states, “Unto Adam and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Numerous other biblical references indicate the use of animal skins for various purposes, sometimes prepared as leather, with the hair removed. Among the Egyptians tanning seems to have been a common occupation. The particularly attractive skins, like those of the leopard or panther, were especially prized, and were made up as furs for ornamental wear, rugs and decorations. The less valuable skins were unhaired and made into leather. Although the tanning or leather-producing processes of the Egyptians are quite unknown, numerous figures engraved in stone afford an indication to some of the manipulatory operations, such as soaking the skins, fleshing, softening with stones, stretching over a three-legged wooden “horse,” etc. Many articles, made of leather, have been found in the various Egyptian sarcophagi, and all are in a splendid state of preservation, after forty centuries, thereby indicating a very efficient method of dressing animal skins. Likewise, the presence in the museums of various articles, leather and fur, of Assyrian, Phoenician and Persian origin, tends to show that these peoples also possessed a considerable degree of proficiency in tanning. Frequent references in the Greek literature show that leopard and lion skins were worn as war cloaks, and they undoubtedly were properly made. In the Iliad is described an operation for the preparation of skins for use as garments, and the method seems to be a sort of chamois dressing.

The first method of tanning skins was, in all probability, that of rubbing into the skins various fatty materials found close at hand, such as parts of the animal, fat, brains, milk, excrement, etc., such an operation constituting the basis of what is now known as the chamois dressing. One of the reasons for believing that it was the first process to be used by primitive man, is the fact that certain undeveloped tribes and races of the present day still dress skins by it. The American Indians, even to this day prepare skins by rubbing in, on the flesh side, the brains of the animals which furnished the skins. The Eskimos dress skins by rubbing in animal fats or fish-oil, and subsequently softening and stretching the skins with their teeth in place of, or for want of other implements. Usually, however, variously shaped stones or bones of animals are used to obtain the proper degree of softness and flexibility. It is true, too, that some of the skins dressed in this primitive fashion can scarcely be excelled by any dressed with more modern processes and tanning methods.

The next step forward in the preparation of animal skins for use was undoubtedly the utilization of substances found in the earth. Common salt, sodium chloride, was the most universally used substance of mineral origin, just as it is today. Our prehistoric ancestors eventually discovered the preservative action of salt, and applied it to skins. While it was effective, it was not sufficiently permanent, so another mineral, also of very common and wide occurrence was used in combination with the salt, and the result proved quite satisfactory. This second common mineral was alum. The use of alum, which is the basis of numerous tanning processes to this day, seems to have been quite a popular method of ancient times. Artemidorus, a Greco-Roman writer, mentions the use of alum by the Greeks, and the Romans are known to have prepared a soft, flexible leather called aluta (alum leather), by using it. In view of the fact that Egypt had extensive deposits of alum, it is believed that the alum-salt process was employed also by the Egyptians in the preparation of leather. However, the evidence on this point is not conclusive.

One of the most important methods of producing leather, either as such or on furs, was with the aid of certain vegetable extracts, known as the tannins, from which the process of tanning gets its name. The discovery of the value of these materials for converting the decaying raw skin into a leather which could be preserved for an almost indefinite length of time, and which was flexible and soft as desired, was of far-reaching importance. For it is only in very recent times that these tannins have been superseded in part by new tanning substances whose use is simpler and more time-saving. Yet there are unmistakable indications that the tannins were employed for tanning at a period which reaches back to the dawn of history. Although it is scarcely probable that the people who used these materials could have known of the existence or the nature of the particular substances in the vegetable extracts which actually effect the tanning action, experience taught them to employ these plants which possessed the highest content of active ingredients, and which, consequently, were most effective in use. Tychios, of Boetius, a Greek supposed to have lived about 900 B.C. and mentioned in the Iliad, is considered the oldest known tanner, and was regarded by Pliny, a Roman writer, as the discoverer of tanning, and of the use of the various vegetable tanning materials. At any rate, the Greeks used the leaves of a so-called tanning-tree, which was probably the sumach. The Egyptians worked with the acacia, while the Romans used as tanning materials the barks of the pine, alder and pomegranate trees, also nut-galls, sumach and acorns. The Romans were quick to employ methods used by the peoples whom they conquered, and it is in this way that they learned the use of many of the plants mentioned, for tanning purposes.

Many other ancient peoples had various processes of tanning, the methods probably differing in each country. Thus the Chinese, Syrians, and much later, the Moors, were each known for proficiency in a certain class of leather tanning. It has been said that in general, even up to modern times, tanning with nut-galls was the characteristic method of the Orient; with oak-tan, that of the Occident, while the use of alum is regarded as the method peculiar to the Saracens.

In prehistoric times and the early centuries of civilization, skins or pelts were prepared for use by the individual, the work usually being done by the housewife and daughters, while the masculine members of the family were engaged in hunting the animals and obtaining the skins. At a later period, when people had advanced to the point where they lived in cities, the preparing or dressing of skins became centered in the hands of a comparatively small number of people, and thus the work took on the aspects of a trade. The workers in fur were at first the same people who made leather out of the skin, for the two kinds of work were very closely associated. During the period of the Roman supremacy, historical records show that the furriers, who did all the work connected with furs, from purchasing the raw skins, dressing them, making them into garments, to selling the latter, were organized into associations together with the leather workers. After the fall of the Roman empire, and throughout the centuries known as the Dark Ages, all traces of the furriers seem to have been lost, but in the beginning of the Renaissance period in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we again find records of the furriers, who were now all members of the furriers’ guilds, also in association with the leather workers. As formerly, all the work connected with the production of fur apparel from the raw furs, was done by the master furrier and his apprentices. The methods and the implements used, were essentially the same as in Roman times, and in fact, up to a very recent period there was very little change in either.