Arctic fox fur is a type of fur obtained from the arctic fox (also known as the polar fox) and turned into a commodity. The arctic fox is zoologically divided into two color varieties, the white fox and the blue fox, whose fur is also a commodity as blue fox fur.
The white fox, the color variety of the arctic fox, lives in the entire northern polar zone. The retail trade rarely differentiates between the arctic fox fur and the white form of the blue fox, usually the dissimilar fur types are offered as white fox, even a Scandinavian auction house refers to pure white blue foxes as white fox. However, there are relatively few actual arctic fox pelts on the market.
The fur trade classifies the arctic fox fur among the so-called noble fox furs, such as the silver fox fur, the blue fox fur and the cross fox fur.
Fur
The fur of the arctic or white fox is about long, the tail is long. The size of the pelt is often different every year, even if the pelts come from the same territory, presumably due to different food availability, especially the occurrence of lemmings (which are part of their diet). The pelts from eastern Canada are somewhat smaller than those from the western part. Early catches are smaller than late ones. The trappers were aware of this, but the abundance is greater in spring, so they accepted it for the sake of the higher yield. Farm animals are significantly larger on average. The paws are densely coated in winter. The fur is on average smaller and the tail shorter than that of the blue fox. The very soft hair is long, fine and more silky than that of the red fox and the blue fox (see fineness categories below), with partly long guard hair. The dense undercoat is the most matted of all fox species. Smaller coats are sometimes silkier than larger ones.Schöps, Dr. Paul; Häse, Kurt (1972). Über das Sortiment der Weißfüchse (in German). Analysis of Canadian sources (Terence Huttle). In: Das Pelzgewerbe, Neue Folge 21 (4): 3–7
The summer coat of the white fox is stone-gray to gray-brownish, almost olive-brown, sometimes even darker, with red tones; the flanks are correspondingly lighter, the belly tends to whitish, the thighs resemble the flanks in color. The legs and their soles are brownish gray. In the developing young foxes, there are still considerable differences in the moulting phases. A dark band runs cross-shaped from the dark dorsal stripe down to the legs, hence the name “cross fox” for the summer coat. The tail is brownish at the top, otherwise lighter with pale reddish fox shades, the head is brownish gray, the ears are gray-brown at the back and white on the inside. The winter coat is pure white, sometimes delicately cream-colored to yellowish. The undercoat is white to blue-white. (Further distinctions between the developmental stages can be found down below in the Trade and History section.) The arctic fox wears its winter coat from December to January. In Greenland, the fur remains white all year round due to the short summer. At an average of , the winter guard hair is twice as long as in summer, while the undercoat is long. The winter hair is also thicker. 97 percent of the hair is wool, only 3 percent of guard hair.Dathe, Dr. Heinrich; Schöps, Dr. Paul; with the collaboration of 11 specialists (1986). Pelztieratlas (in German). Jena: VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag. 131–133
In general, the undercoat is very strong; the upper hair does not always cover it well. When stroked with one’s hand, the dense, dull undercoat offers more resistance than a sturdy coat. Woolly coats have rubbed buttocks (rear parts of the coat). The durability coefficient for fine fox fur is given as 50 to 60 percent.The comparative values (coefficients) given are the result of comparative testing by furriers and fur traders with regard to the degree of apparent wear (usage). The numbers are not unambiguous; in addition to subjective observations of durability in practice, each individual case is influenced by tanning and finishing as well as numerous other factors. A more precise figure could only be determined on a scientific basis. The classification was made in steps of 10 percent each. The most durable fur types based on practical experience were set at 100 percent.Schöps, Paul; Brauckhoff, H.; Häse, Kurt; König, Richard; Straube-Daiber W. (1964) Die Haltbarkeitskoeffizienten der Pelzfelle (in German). In: Das Pelzgewerbe 15 / Neue Folge (2) Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Vienna: Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, pp. 56–58 When fur animals are divided into the fineness categories, among which are silky, fine, medium-fine, coarser and hard, white fox hair is classified as fine.Schöps, Paul; Häse, Kurt (1955). Die Feinheit der Behaarung - Die Feinheits-Klassen (in German) In: Das Pelzgewerbe. 6 / Neue Folge (2), Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main: Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps. pp. 39–40
Trade and history
Blue fox fur has always been considered more valuable than that of the white fox. In some areas, the targeted hunting of blue foxes resulted in the former balance shifting in favour of the white foxes; on Bering Island, the blue foxes were destroyed “down to a meagre remnant”.Schmidt, Dr. Fritz (1970). Das Buch von den Pelztieren und Pelzen (in German). Munich: F. C. Mayer. pp. 203–213 In 1858, a Russian decree even ordered the killing of all white foxes while at the same time restricting the hunting of blue foxes.Samet, Arthur (1950). Pictorial Encyclopedia of Furs. New York: A. Samet (Book Division). pp. 226–229
In 1762, the import of white foxes from “Russia, the North and Poland” is mentioned. “Hungarian furs are lined with these fox skins.".Der Kirschner (1762). In: J. S. Halle: Werkstätten der heutigen Künste (in German). Berlin, see p. 309 In 1883, the frequent use of white fox fur is also mentioned for Poland and Russia itself and in Turkey: “Furs with white fox lining are a much sought-after item, especially by Turkish women.”Greger, Simon (1883) Die Kürschnerkunst (4th ed.; in German), Weimar: Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, p. 20. (130th volume of Neuer Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke).
In 1821, the Englishman John Dundas Cochrane found an already well-organized Chukchi fur market “in the remotest corner of Siberia”, on the ice of the Anyuy River behind Nizhny Kolymsk. The valuable black fox furs were offered there for 35 to 210 thalers, silver foxes for 70 thalers, red and gray foxes for 14 to 21 thalers, reddish-brown foxes for 5 thalers, blue foxes for 2 to 3 thalers and white fox furs for to 2 thalers.Schier, Bruno (1951). Wege und Formen des ältesten Pelzhandels in Europa (in German). Archive for Fur Science Volume 1. Frankfurt: Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, p. 54. Table of contents.
Apparently the great era of white fox fashion began with a Diva who caused a sensation with a white fox fur.The name of the Diva remains unknown in the source. In 1931, another diva, the actress Marlene Dietrich, caused quite a stir when she appeared at the Berlin Press Ball wearing “a fabulous evening coat made of white crêpe suéde with six white foxes as trimmings from the Max Becker model house”."F.F.S." (February 17, 1931) Marlene Dietrich propagiert den Fuchs (in German). In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt (20) Leipzig, p. 3.
Until the summer of 1915, hardly any trappers had bothered to catch the fox with the less valuable fur; only the Eskimos used it to line their pants.Harding, A. R. (1915) Fur Buyer's Guide. Columbus: self-published, pp. 163–164 The Eskimos also later delivered the pelts without the front paws, which they kept as souvenirs, presumably out of a religious tradition.Bachrach, Max (1936). Fur. A Practical Treatise. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 286–288 There were hardly any white foxes in the Hudson's Bay Company's previous hunting ground, so part of the hunt shifted to the Canadian Antarctic, which had previously only been visited by individual expeditions, with the help of the local Inuit. The trading posts were soon so far north that the polar explorer Knud Rasmussen (1879–1933) wrote: “Along Canada's Arctic coast lies trap after trap like a single pair of steel scissors, mercilessly snapping at any unwary white fox that allows itself to be tempted by the inviting bait”. With the hunt for the arctic fox, Canada also practically took possession of the Arctic islands, and the entire organization there was created just for this purpose. According to the Canadian Dominion Bureau of Statistics, the annual harvest before 1970 was around 45 to 55 thousand pelts, compared to only a few hundred of the rare blue foxes.
The white fox was one of the main sources of livelihood for the Russian population who lived from hunting. When far-reaching hunting led to an extreme decline in populations and market prices collapsed at the same time, this had a catastrophic effect on the economic situation of the indigenous peoples of northern Canada and Alaska at the beginning of the 1930s. In the 1960s, around 65 thousand pelts from there were again traded annually. In North America, blue and white fox pelts were almost a kind of fur money in a barter trade with the Eskimos.
The summer fur of the Arctic fox is not traded. However, until the First World War, these down-soft pelts were a sought-after item for light, but warm and durable lining, but hunting and trapping of Arctic foxes of this age is now prohibited. Pelts hunted shortly before (flat, bluish) or after the main season (“ragged shedding”) are considered practically worthless.Burgess, Helen (Autumn 1966). Arctic Furs Prime or Worthless? In: The Beaver, Outfit 297, Winnipeg: Hudson’s Bay Company, p. 27
The particular stages of development for white foxes are described by the Russian trade as follows: kopanez (until the 10th day of life); slepuschonka (1 to 2 months old; fur dark brown, almost black; with sparse guard hairs); nornik (2 to 4 months old; coat browner; guard hairs somewhat more abundant); krestowatik (summer coat; hair brightened up on dewlap and sides; a brown stripe along the back and shoulders forms a kind of cross); sinjak or tschajatschnik (6 to 8 months old; grayish, bluish (lead-colored); September to mid-October); nedopesok (mid-to-late October: grayish-white; sparse brown guard hairs, bluish/blue undercoat); polny, rosly or doschly (from November: white winter coat with thick, luxuriant hair; sometimes a slightly bluish sheen at the base of the coat, occasional bluish–dark brown guard hairs); Weschnjak (end of winter; weaker hair growth); Gagara (from April; during moulting, the coat has hardly any guard hairs).
Origins:
1. Russia-Siberia Novaya Zemlya – best quality, luxuriant silky hair cover with high ground hairs, dense undercoat; snow-white. Yakutsk – slightly smaller, lush hair cover, silky soft; thin guard hairs, dense undercoat, pure white. Salekhard (formerly Obdorsk) – medium size; not so lush; significantly less silky, short guard hairs, dense undercoat; white, in part slightly cream-colored. Pechora – small; not lush, short guard hairs, little undercoat; white, sometimes a little bluish ("skimmed milk color").
2. Scandinavia – Spitsbergen, Northern Norway (Finnmark); similar to the Russian-Siberian ones, but considerably smaller and lower in quality.
3. Iceland-Greenland – small to medium-sized; medium density; lower in quality; partly white, partly yellowish; occasionally blackish guard hairs (gray-tipped); good for coloring.
4. North America – finer hair than those of the Russian-Siberian origin; Alaska and Yukon – large; dense, very silky; white; coarser hair in the ones from the West Coast. Hudson Bay – large; strong hair, very silky; mostly white, sometimes slightly yellowish. Labrador (Northeastern Canada) – very large; very silky; white; finest varieties: Whale River District, York Fort and Eskimo Bay.
Auction assortments (from 1988):
a) Russian, standardized Origins: Nowosemolsky, Kamchatka, Yeniseysk, Yakutsk, Salekhard (Obdorsk), Pechora, Mezensky District.