Oh my... looking at the women holding those little dead animals made me shudder to think what the animal rights people would do with that "fashion" now!!!

Clay

On 11/16/2010 11:06 AM, Linda Walton wrote:
Tatman wrote:
[snip]
> I have a friend who is reading a book that
> takes place in the 16th century. As she explains in her email to me below, > the man character is giving a sable as a gift to his lady which she adorns > on her gown. Is this sable the animal or some other accessory/item? From > what I have found so far on the net is that it was a treasure to receive a
> sable and to display it on your gown as a status symbol.
[snip]
> Your thoughts and explanation of the significance of this ritual would be
> appreciated.

My guess is that this refers to a "zibellino", (plural "zibellini"), which was a fashion accessory for the very rich. The word lends itself to be understood as "sable", but the fur itself might be something else, such as marten. The fur was worn over the arm or shoulder of a woman.

Renaissance furriers could preserver the skin, but had to replace the head and little feet with gold, enamelled and bejewelled pieces. I think its use may have been restricted to upper class women by the various sumptuary laws of different countries.

In that period, the animal was also a fertility symbol, which might have some significance in your friend's story. I understand that there is a portrait of Countess Livia da Porto in the Walters Gallery in Baltimore which shows her with one. Because of the fertility reference, art historians have speculated she might have been pregnant when the painting was done, although she had two children already. (Her daughter Porzia is pictured with her mother; her husband and son are in another painting.)

There is an article here, with some more links:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zibellino
and a search on "sibellini" will throw up lots of links to images.

The article mentions the alternative name of "flea-fur": I don't know the origin of this, but it seems unlikely. The aristocratic women with such items would be unlikely to advertise any problem with personal hygiene. (Yes, I know all about fleas and the Black Death, but look at the death rates for the different classes to see who had fleas and who didn't!) Also, any flea would be more attracted to the nearest warm body - that is, meal - than to any cold, dead, tanned fur piece.

I'd be interested to know the title and author of your friend's book.

Linda Walton,
(in cold, dank High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K., where the fog hasn't lifted all day).

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