Fur hand muffs - history in photographs and engravings

Do you love animals and lose your temper every time you see fur? Then this publication is not for you, because there will be a lot, a lot of fur here, namely fur muffs and their history.

Couplings have been known for a very long time. A kind of prototype of the clutch is considered to be a funnel-shaped elongation of narrow sleeves, which was found in both men and women. A traditional cylindrical fur muff appeared in Venice, where it became an independent accessory.

Perhaps they existed before, but if you focus on portraits of women, the first fur muffs became widespread in the middle of the 16th century in Italy. At the same time, Italian couplings played mostly the role of a luxurious accessory, rather than warming hands, because Italy does not differ in severe frosts. Russia is another matter, this is where the couplings were used for their intended purpose! Only, unfortunately, mystylex.techinfus.com/en/ could not establish whether there were couplings in Russia earlier than in Italy or not. Russian history is shrouded in many secrets, it is constantly rewritten and rewritten, so it is not possible to find out for sure.

And in Europe, the muff has become a rather important element of the wardrobe; attention was often paid to it not only in painting, but also in literature. For example, Cesare Vecellio, in his book on costumes, wrote about the Venetian ladies of the late 16th century: "In winter they wear muffs made of good fur - muffs lined with silk or velvet, and in summer - gloves."

Since the muff was both a symbol of wealth and cost a lot of money, it was worn exclusively by the aristocracy. The muffs of those years were made from a variety of furs - from sheepskin to sable. In addition to fur, feathers, silk, velvet, brocade were used. Products were decorated with embroidery, lace, pearls and gold embroidery. Unlike modern couplings, in those days these accessories were made with fur inside.

Commoners were not allowed to wear a muff due to their status, but those who could afford it took it with them not only outside, but also indoors, did not let go of their hands, because a rich muff was an ornament in itself.

Men wore muffs almost on a par with women. Perhaps the trendsetter of this fashion was Louis XIV, who with age fell in love with furs.

The second role of the fur clutch
In those early days, there were no such comfortable handbags and clutches, there were no minuiers decorated with rhinestones and precious stones, so the muffs to some extent served as handbags.

Louis XIV wore snuff, a fan, a watch, and many other small things in his muffs. And his muffs were often made of exotic fur - tiger or panther. Louis XIV was not the only king to love clutches. Henry III was reported to have adored "perfume, cosmetics, earrings, velvet and satin muffs trimmed with fur."

Then the fashion changed, and after it the couplings changed. Men chose smaller clutches, women, on the contrary, sought to purchase a larger clutch. It even got to the point that some ladies managed to hide their dog in a fur muff!

They also tried to scent the muff with perfume or other incense. This was done in order, on the one hand, to slightly interrupt the unpleasant smells of the streets, and on the other, so that a perfume trail remained behind the lady, which would attract attention ...

The tradition of aromatizing the muff did not lose its popularity for a long time, even one of the heroines of George Sand, describing her childhood, shared her memories - “Finally we left the house, and hearing the rustle of our dresses, inhaling the aroma of our perfumed muffs, everyone turned around to look after us ".