What is a zibellino?  A zibellino (pl. zibellini) was a full-body pelt worn as a fashion accessory b

What is a zibellino?  A zibellino (pl. zibellini) was a full-body pelt worn as a fashion accessory by stylish ladies in the 1500s, most commonly in Northern Italy.  They used sable or marten pelts most often, but ermine, mink, and even lynx were also used.  Zibellini frequently had gold or silver heads and feet, and there is also mention of artisans using jet or crystal instead of metal!  Regardless of the material used, they were usually encrusted with jewels and sometimes enamelwork.  Sometimes zibellini are called “flea furs” on the mistaken assumption that ladies wore these furs to attract the fleas away from themselves and onto the furs…this is a myth, as no flea would leave a nice, warm, food-filled body for an empty pelt!  Besides, if you were a rich lady, would you want to advertise your personal cleanliness issues to the masses?  No, zibellini were worn for high fashion, not personal hygiene.The traditional costume historian’s term for this accessory, flea-fur, is from the German Flohpelz, coined by Wendelin Boeheim in 1894, who was the first to suggest that the furs were intended to attract fleas away from the body of the wearer. There is no historical evidence to support this claim. Italians simply called these accessories “zibellini”, their word for sables and speakers of other languages called them “martens”, “sables” or “ermines” in their native tongues. The earliest surviving mention of a marten pelt to be worn as neck ornament occurs in an inventory of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, dated 1467, but the fashion was widespread in Northern Italy by the 1490s. The style spread slowly to the north and west. Mary, Queen of Scots, brought fur pieces on her return to Scotland from France in 1561; one of her zibellini had a head of jet. Elizabeth I of England received a “Sable Skynne the hed and fourre featte of gold fully furnished with Dyamondes and Rubyes” as a New Year’s Gift from the Earl of Leicester in 1585. The fashion for carrying zibellini died out in the first years of the 17th century, although fox, mink and other pelts were worn in similar fashion in the 19th and 20th century. You can still buy zibellini today.1. Portrait attributed to William Segar, c. 1595, showing an English lady holding a zibellino2. Jewelled head for a zibellino, Italy, ca. 1550-59 (Walters Art Museum). “The marten was thought to conceive its young through its ears, free from sexual intercourse, and was thus associated with Christ’s miraculous conception. This symbolic meaning is indicated by the presence of the dove of the Incarnation on the creature’s snout. Such objects were fashionable in Europe during the sixteenth century. They also served as protective amulets for pregnant women.” -- source link

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