Cabinet of Curiosities: Monkey Fur Cape

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gifted to the York County History Center

in

2017 this cape was owned and used by

Ethel gunnet who originally received the

cape from the estate of a woman who she

cleaned for in York

Pennsylvania Ethel passed the cape down

to her niece Patricia shell in

1973 this cape is made of black and

white cob monkey fur gaining the

knowledge that this jacket is made of

monkey fur elicits thoughts for everyone

whether it be discussed at how long and

humanlike the fur is or Intrigue into

the craft required to construct it

despite personal feelings fur has been a

staple in the human dress for thousands

of years and this example highlights the

use of fur in high

fashion monkey fur is most often

associated with use in the 1930s but

with was also used in the 19th century a

March 1867 article from Arthur's Home

magazine describes monkey fur as well

known prized for how elegantly it hung

over the hands when made into a

muff designer Elsa skia pelli brought

monkey fur to hot Couture fashion in the

1930s in 1933 skia pelli presented a

shoulder tray coat with a ring of long

black monkey fur encircling the coat at

shoulder height later in the 1930s skia

parelli introduced several garments

featuring monkey fur and after this it

quickly became a feature on readymade

garments in advertisements monkey fur

was described as modern daring and

sophisticated the monkey fur used by

skia pelli and this cape comes from the

colobus monkey native to Africa the

cobus is an arboreal monkey meaning it

spends most of its life in the tree

canopy the colobus monkeys vary in color

and the black and white variety is most

commonly sought after for the contrast

between the two colors Western

fashionable dress no longer uses cobus

monkey fur as they are currently at risk

from habitat loss due to

deforestation it is important to

remember that where there is hair there

is also skin loss of flexibility

vulnerability to dry rot oxidation and

color change are all a part of the

natural degradation of skins and

furs what a garment is made out of is

important because it allows collection

staff to know how it may react to

different agents of

deterioration like all other Museum

objects fur garments are susceptible to

improper temperature and relative

humidity levels light damage water

damage pests and

more minimizing external threats

maintaining proper climate and using

archival materials for storage and

display of fur garments can slow down

these effects and promote their

longevity as well as periodic monitoring

of the storage space by

staff artifacts are susceptible to

external threats and sometimes the

artifact itself can be dangerous to us

as well Zoological fashions that contain

taxidermied animals or animal parts are

often prepared with arsenic to ward off

pests and that poses a risk to the staff

which is why it is important to wear

gloves and other PPE like aprons and

particle filtering face masks as

especially if it is unknown whether or

not something may contain harmful

chemicals because fur garments are

subject to fur loss they should be

handled as minimally as possible the

Cape is cleaned using a hepo filtered

vacuum which has two layers of mesh

secured to the end of the wand with a

rubber band dust and debris is directed

into the stream of the vacuum using a

low suction and a soft natural bristle

brush moving in the same direction as

the natural grain of the fur

after processing and cleaning the object

is ready to be

rehoused because there is fur on all

sides of the object it cannot be simply

placed in a box placing this in a box

would promote fur matting and even

further fur loss the interior of the

Cape is lined with silk which is

slightly discolored and in good

condition with no indications of

shattering or

brittleness there is relatively even

weight distribution on the front and

back of the cape so a padded hanger

providing support is the best solution

for long-term storage in this

case we use a paper pattern in the

correct size in this case adult and cut

two pieces of muslin using the pattern

the two pieces are sewn using a sewing

machine to create a neat bottom Edge and

then the two sides are sewn together

leaving a small Gap at the top where the

hook of the hanger is fed through the

hanger is covered in Cotton batting

using using a needle and thread to

secure the bottom in

place the sewn cover is then flipped

right side out the muslin cover is

placed over the hanger covered in the

batting the cover is secured at the

bottom with a few final stitches and now

the hanger is ready for the cape and

most importantly the Cape is ready for

long-term

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storage