Back in port, the seal skins were graded on the basis of the seal's age and the quality of the pelt. The finest skins from young seals were cured and dyed as furs to be made into muffs, boas and capes which were so fashionable at the end of the 19th century. The most sought after were the woolly, white furs of pups less than a fortnight old.

©SCRAN/Bridgeman Art Library Fur Coat by Bessie MacNicol [1869-1904]

©SCRAN/Glasgow Museums The Fur Boa by William Kennedy 1890-3

The Fur Coat’s sober colour palette and impressionistic brushwork are characteristic of the Glasgow School artists and their circle. Bessie MacNicol’s image possesses a furtive prettiness, and the viewer meets the gaze of this flirtatious young woman whose face is partly concealed by her bonnet. She appears to greet us with alacrity and pleasure. Her fur coat, the painting’s nominal subject, engulfs this lady and protects her from the cold. Her glamour is contrived to outwit the elements - her hat and muff are made of fur and her lips are painted scarlet. Sadly, MacNicol's flourishing artistic career was cut short as she died in childbirth at the tender age of 34.

The other elegant young lady has come to the artist's studio to have her portrait painted. She is obviously enjoying the experience because she is smiling and her pose is quite relaxed. She has dressed up for the occasion wearing the latest fashion accessory, a fur boa. The artist has reinforced the relaxed atmophere of the picture by using only a few colours - mainly blues with a few touches of red in her hat and its ribbon which trails round her boa. These colours are echoed in the background details of the picture. This type of tonal painting , where a few colours are used to create an overall harmony and sense of balance, was first introduced into Scotland by the American artist, James McNeill Whistler. His art influenced many of the Glasgow Boys including Kennedy.