On Tue, 3 Mar 2009, Patricia Dunham wrote:
As to the fur in the painting... I have no idea. Looks like a very pale tan
to me, not gray at all. Of course there's no telling what the original color
was, what with ... 4-500 yrs of varnish on top of it. If anyone can get
sufficient detail to actually estimate the length of the fur fibers, that
might be some help. Did European squirrels come in white or cream, besides
maybe stomachs? (Heraldic "vair" is both topside gray and tummy white, eh???
-- yes, the European Red Squirrel, wiki says.) Wiki article on the painting
alleges the light fur to be "ermine or miniver" which is the same thing!
Ermine is winter coat of the "stoat", miniver is "stoat".
Chimene
Miniver is the trimmed bellies of Norwegian grey squirrels, says the book
on the medieval fur trade that I don't have the citation for right now.
I'm not sure why I said gris earlier, possibly my pre-tea brain was
insisting that her fur was gray rather than white. In any case, it's not
ermine. No tails/paws and ermine is a lot shorter pile than that. Or it
could be fitch, which is basically sable but white. White rabbit is going
to be a lot softer and not as dense.
[Part of my social distinctions class includes a 'show and fondle' for
furs--I have ermine, squirrel, sable, mink, beaver, and rabbit, and I hope
to pick up a fitch and an otter at some point.]
Jen/pixel/Margaret
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