Muffs and Furs (1850s)

Someone was asking about fur muffs this time last year, so I started compiling a few references on the subject. I was rather intrigued by the 'rules' for which furs are appropriate to which garments and the varying fashions for different colors and kinds.

Muffs. Learning to Think (1856)

The Great Exhibition (1851) catalog has a list of different furs and their uses, which I found rather interesting in its categorization. 

In a similar vein, Learning to Think (1856) has a short question series (almost a catechism) covering muffs, tippets, etc., and the animals from which they are derived: genet, sable, otter, chincilla, and marten. 

Opera cloak of velvet trimmed with chinchilla.
Graham's Magazine, 1856.

Graham's Magazine says of the furs favored in 1856:

Furs do not enter into trimmings this season so much as was anticipated, but instead we have an imitation of Russian sable, which is used pretty extensively for trimming cloaks. We have nothing new in this department--the sable is still the fur par excellence; the shapes are in no wise different from last year, and we must confess they are pretty enough to be retained for another season. The large cap is pointed in the back, and full over the arm, thus preventing any ungraceful drag which might result from the absence of this very important little gusset. They are almost universally furnished with a small collar, which gives them a much more finished appearance. The small cape and its diminutive, the victorine, sweep round the shoulders and fall in long and square tabs in front, ending in three or four tails. The muffs are worn, we are pleased to say, as small as last year. The cuffs are of the same as last year, reaching almost to the elbow. There is another style of cape, circular shape, with arm holes, very convenient for holding a muff. The Russian sable, the scarcest and consequently the dearest fur we have, is, we understand, smuggled into this country, its exportation being prohibited by the Rus government. A small muff of this fur costs four hundred dollars and the entire set consisting of cape, cuffs, and muff is worth $1,400 or $1,500. Next in importance comes the Hudson Bay sable, its price ranging from $200 to $700 the set, its value increasing as its color darkens. Then we have mink, a beautiful fur almost rivalling the sable, and next, "fallen from its high estate", comes ermine, now only a fourth rate fur, of which in the good old times kings had the monopoly. Then again we have chinchilla, fitch squirrel, stone marten, minever; and if our ladies can't be suited, no matter how diverse their tastes may be, it must be the result of the bewildering variety they have to choose from.

A very important department in fur establishments is that devoted to children. There are some furs dedicated to their exclusive use, such as minever and chinchilla, and others which they use in common with their elders, as ermine and the mixed white and gray squirrel. They have entire sets, capes, cuffs, and muffs, and of all sizes suitable for children of every age, provided that the "juvenile world" must form a very considerable item in business calculations. The price for a set of minever is thirty dollars and for ermine from twenty five to forty.

 

Braided velvet muff with ermine trim.
Godey's, 1856.

There's a lengthy explanation of the winter 1857-1858 fashions for furs in Godey's:

There has never been a season when furs wore so universally worn. The reduction in price, consequent upon the late crisis, and the auction sales of the holidays, have done much to bring this about. A full suit of furs is a cape, or victorine, with cuffs, and muff. Many dispense with the muff, however, and some of those who have full capes with cuffs also. Half capes are most suitable for short figures, or for young girls. Victorines of mink and sable are usually manufactured of more choice and costly skins, so that the value is not greatly lessened. Cloaks of a circular shape, with "arm-holes," to use an inelegant but in this place completely expressive phrase, are in some instances adopted. They have a collar of the same, and are very warm and deep. Russian sables are of course still above the common purse; but some elegantly marked Hudson's Bay have been brought to market the present season. Mink is the next in favor and in price. Ermine is not so much a favorite as for a few winters past, as the prevailing tone of all street dress has been decidedly dark. Muffs are worn still very small, and ornamented with rich lining, cords, and tassels, or a simple bow of velvet, or other costly ribbon. Cuffs rather deep. Sable and mink are used to some extent in trimming velvet cloaks and coin de fero jackets; but plush has a very good effect in open cloaks and dressing- gowns. Ermine is the only fur suited for evening, and is still greatly used for full-dress wraps. Of the less costly and favorite furs, stone marten, Siberian squirrel, and fitch are in demand. Siberian squirrel is the most suitable for children and school-girls; though some excellent imitations of ermine are also seen in tippets, etc., intended for the juveniles.
--Godey's. February 1858 

 

Small muff of ermine.
Godey's, January 1858

The popularity of furs has apparently increased by the following year, with dark furs continuing to be favored:

Furs are at the height of favor, and were never more universally worn. Ermine bands are used for trimming opera-cloaks, or sorties du bal; dark fur, and sable, and mink for velvet cloaks, etc., intended for the street. A Victorine, or cape with lappets, or a round cloak, with cuffs and a small muff, are considered a full set. The Victorines are usually quite deep, coming half way to the waist behind—the cape to the waist and below it. The cloaks are as deep as ordinary talmas, and, with the capes, have a collar. The muffs are still quite small. Furs are lined usually with quilted silk, and ornamented by rich cords and tassels. Sable, Hudson's Bay, and mink are the favorites among the expensive furs—Siberian squirrel, and a mixture of the gray and white fur in stripes, are among the loss expensive ones.
--Godey's, January 1859

Furs. Godey's, December 1855. (Page 486)

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For those interpreters unwilling to don furs, muffs also sometimes appear in other materials--these are mostly knit or crochet, or occasionally velvet. There are also knit and crochet patterns "in imitation" of certain fur garments. 

The Winchester Fancy Needle Instructor (1846) has two knit and one crochet muff, meant to resemble chinchilla, sable, or ermine.  

Gems of Knitting and Crochet (1847) gives instructions for a "ermine or chincilla" muff knit in brioche stitch.

A variegated knit muff is given in the Ladies' Work-table Book (1850).

In December 1857, Peterson's gives instructions for a knit muff lined with silk and stuffed with fine wool or horsehair.

The Ladies Complete Guide to Needlework (1859) features two knit muffs, one in imitation sable.

A crocheted child's muff appears in Peterson's in 1864.

A crocheted "ermine" pelerine and cuffs appear in The Lady's Friend (1865), along with a girl's knit muff and a child's muff knit in imitation chincilla. (Peterson's also published the last.)

Child's muff knit as imitation chinchilla.
Peterson's, April 1865.