Overview
A zibellino is a complete sable or marten skin, dressed and mounted, sometimes fitted with a goldsmith’s head of enamel and gems and jewelled feet. Held in the hand or hung from a chain or girdle, it served no practical purpose beyond conspicuous display of wealth.
How it is worn
It is carried draped over the arm or suspended at the waist and appears in many grand portraits of noblewomen. A folk belief that the fur drew away fleas and vermin gave rise to its nickname, though its real function was ornament and status.
History
The jewelled zibellino was at the height of fashion among wealthy women in sixteenth-century Italy and spread to courts across Europe. Sumptuary concerns and changing taste ended the vogue, and it survives now mainly in the portraits that recorded it.