Salmon Skin Woman's Coat, Siberia

Salmon skin coat, Siberia, c. 1900. Salmon skin coat, Siberia, c. 1900. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. 626-1905.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a woman's marriage coat from Siberia, which is made of sewn salmon skins. It was acquired by the museum in 1905, and information was added that it was a Gilyak coat from the lower Amur river region, near Vladivostok, from a tribe that was "dying out".

The coat, which measures 101 x 145 cm, was made from the skins of sixty Pacific salmon. They were sewn together with sinew creating a decorative pattern of seams. The back of the coat is made from overlapping panels with applied skin. For this use was made of the smooth inner side of the salmon skin that was painted red, black and blue and stitched in place with coloured silk thread. The applied inner skins may represent the faces of animals.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 22 October 2016).

WV

Last modified on Tuesday, 15 November 2016 20:49
Published in Daily and general garments and textiles
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