Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dyeing

by William E. Austin

The first application of dyeing to furs, had for its purpose the improvement of skins which were poor or faulty in color; or rather, the object was to hide such defects. As nearly as can be ascertained, this practise was instituted at some time during or before the fourteenth century, for fur dyeing seems to have been common during that period, as is apparent from the verses of a well-known German satirist, Sebastian Brant, who lived in the latter part of the fourteenth century:

“Man kann jetzt alles Pelzwerk färben,

Und tut es auf das schlechste gerben.”

However, at a later period, there was a general condemnation of the dyeing of furs, and among the list of members of the furrier’s guilds, none can be found who are described as dyers. There is a record of a decree issued by a prince in a German city in the sixteenth century, prohibiting the practise of fur dyeing. Inasmuch as furs were worn only by the nobility and certain other privileged classes, and also were very costly, there was great profit to be had by dyeing inferior skins so as to disguise the poor color, and then selling such furs at the price of superior quality skins. This was undoubtedly the reason for the prohibitory decree, but there were some who continued to practise the forbidden art in secret, using secluded and out-of-the-way places for their workshops, and mixing their carefully-guarded recipes with as much mystery as the witches did their magic potions. These circumstances probably account for the great amount of mystery which has been, and still is to a considerable degree, attached to fur dyeing, and also explains the opprobrium and distrust with which fur dyers were formerly regarded.

Even at the present time, dyeing is often employed to improve furs which are faulty in color. It frequently happens, that in a lot of skins there are some which are considerably off shade, or in which the color is such as to appreciably reduce their value below the average, the hair being usually too light a shade, or of uneven coloring. By carefully dyeing these skins of inferior color, they can be made to match very closely the best colored skins of the particular lot of furs, and consequently increase their value. With most of the cheaper kinds of furs, the trouble and cost of improvement by dyeing would not be worth while today; but with some of the more valuable furs, and especially such as are very highly prized, like the Russian sable, or marten, or chinchilla, the darkening of light skins by the skillful application of fast dyes to the extreme tips of the hair, will increase their value sufficiently to warrant the expense. This dyeing or “blending” as it is called in such cases, is done in such a clever and artistic manner that only experts can distinguish them from the natural. Dyeing used for such purposes is not objectionable, provided the skins are sold as dyed or “blended.”

There are certain kinds of furs, such as the various lambs, Persian, Astrachan, Caracul, etc., which are never used in their natural color, because it is usually of a rusty brownish-black. These are furs possessing valuable qualities otherwise, so they are dyed a pretty shade of black, which brings out the beauty of the fur to the fullest extent. Sealskins are also dyed always. Formerly they were dyed a deep, rich dark brown, resembling the finest shades of the natural color, but now the seals are dyed black with a brownish undertone, a color quite different from the natural. While these two instances cannot be said to be cases of dyeing to disguise faulty color, they are examples of improvement of color by dyeing.

Closely associated with the use of dyes to increase the value of a fur by improving its color, is the dyeing of skins of a certain lot of furs to produce a uniform shade, thereby facilitating or to a considerable degree eliminating the task of matching the skins by the furrier. This is usually done only on skins which are quite small, of which a great many are needed in the manufacture of fur garments, because the matching of several hundred skins would entail too much time and labor commensurate with the value of the fur. The most notable instance of the use of dyes to produce a uniform shade on furs is the case of the moleskin. Occasionally, furs are dyed after being made into garments, by careful application of dyes, in order to obtain certain harmonious effects, such as uniformity of stripe, or to produce a desired gradation of shade among the different skins comprising the garment.

Not infrequently, the great variety of shades and color schemes which Nature provides in the different furs, becomes insufficient to satisfy the desire of the fur-wearing public for something new. The whims of fashion always require some novel effect, even though it be for only one season. To meet this demand for novelty, fantasy or mode shades are produced on suitable furs,—colors which do not imitate those of any animal at all, but which, nevertheless, strike the popular fancy. It often happens that such a color becomes quite popular, and enjoys a considerable vogue, to the great profit of those who introduced the particular color effect. The best ones, however, meet with only a comparatively short-lived demand, being soon superseded by different color novelties.

The basis, though, of the greatest proportion of fur dyeing at the present time, is the imitation of the more valuable furs on cheaper or inferior skins. With the gradual popularization of furs as wearing apparel since the beginning of the last century, the demand for furs of all kinds has increased enormously. The supply of furs, on the other hand, and especially of the rarer kinds, has had difficulty in keeping pace with the requirements, and as a result there is a shortage. A very effective means of relieving this shortage, to a great degree, at any rate, is the dyeing of imitations of the scarcer furs on cheaper skins. There are many animals among the more common, and more easily obtainable ones, whose skins are admirably suited as the basis of imitations of the more costly furs. Some of the furs which are adapted for purposes of dyeing imitations are marmot, red fox, rabbit, hare, muskrat, squirrel, opossum, raccoon, and many others, and the imitations made are those of mink, sable, marten, skunk, seal, chinchilla, etc., and indeed, there are very few valuable furs, which have not been dyed in imitation on cheaper pelts. On account of the general mystery which formerly surrounded fur dyeing establishments, and which has persisted to this day, although to a lesser degree, many peculiar notions were held, even by those in the fur trade, concerning the production of imitations. The idea that in order to “make” a certain fur out of a cheaper skin, it was necessary to use the blood of the animal imitated, is typical of the conceptions of fur dyeing held not so long ago. To-day, while the knowledge generally possessed about this branch of the fur industry is meagre and vague, the air of mystery and secrecy has become somewhat clarified, and such ideas as are current about fur dyeing are more rational than formerly.

The dyeing of imitations is quite an artistic kind of work, and indeed fur dyeing ought to be classed among the finest of industrial arts. Some of the reproductions achieved by dyers on a commercial scale are truly admirable. The possibility of imitating the finer furs on cheaper skins naturally led to abuse, the dyed furs being passed off frequently on the unsuspecting and uninformed buyer as the genuine original. In fact, this practise became so flagrant that in England laws were enacted to remedy the evil. At the present time, dyed furs are all sold as such, although there always may be some unscrupulous merchants who seek to profit by deception. Some of the imitations and the names of the furs for which they were sold, are as follows: