lovely old fur coat

[joydot]

my scottish family were early fur traders so on impulse i bought lovely coat while in scotland! i cannot remember fur type & wonder if anyone here can help???

only a couple areas lifting, its been properly re-lined so orig labels gone. great quite modern cut so v wearable but am off to work in middle east so it has to go.

 

[furwise]

Hi there, we sure are happy to help.

The fur type you have there is muskrat. Some of the ways I can tell when viewing the close up photo you've shown is by the appearance of the guard hair or top layer of fur, which lays flat, has a bit of a wispy and bristly appearance, and is longer than that of the under layer of fur which is a hint lighter in color.
The under layer of fur feels very soft, provides insulation, and has buoyancy which allows the muskrat to stay afloat in the water when in the wild.
In the making the full pelt of the muskrat is often used, or most of it, which includes the nose and rump portion of the muskrat minus the tail which creates a zig zag appearance or points where the noses were and indentations when the rumps minus the tails were.

 

[joydot]

many thanks - didnt know about muskrat. thank the gods i asked.