For centuries, the main material for Khanty clothing was deer hide. Before use, it was cleaned of flesh remnants, softened with special solutions, dried and kneaded, and then smoked and stained with ocher and fish oil. Thanks to such preparation, the hide became strong and pliable. Furthermore, moths did not damage it.
In ancient times, fur items were put directly on the body, with the pile inside: coarse hairs constantly massaged the skin, not letting it cool down. Then people began to make wrap outerwear, which was preserved longer in the women’s wardrobe.
Sak, or sakh (Mansi version — sakhi) is wrap-style winter clothing with a fur collar and no hood. The fur coat is double-layered: it has a fur lining and a top layer made of durable fabric like cloth or (among the Northerners) deer hide with the pile out. The southern Khanty used the skins of medium-sized fur-bearing animals instead of deer: hare, sable, and squirrel.
The cut of the sak is straight or with an extension downwards, with a rectangular back and front. The sleeves narrow towards the cuffs. The shape of the collar varied: sometimes wedge-shaped side inserts were additionally made, or wide extra pieces were sewn along the edge of the front and the hem.
Traditionally, the eastern Khanty wrapped the right side of sak over the left and belted their sak coats. In other Ob-Ugric groups, the front panels matched exactly and were connected with ties.
Such a fur coat was viewed as festive clothing, so it was richly ornamented. Decorations also protected the wearer from the spirits of the Lower World. The Khanty used the applique or fur mosaic techniques, applying the patterns “sable pawprints”, “hare ears”, “pike teeth”, and “deer horns”.
Creating a mosaic of fish skin and light suede was one of the oldest types of Khanty needlework, which is now lost. However, some secrets of making mosaics have been preserved, in particular, how to create it using suede of two colors: light and dark or painted. As Vladislav Mikhailovich Kulemzin and Nadezhda Vasilyevna Lukina write, “A pattern was applied on rovduga with paint made from a mixture of deer blood with a decoction of bark… and [outlined] with a brush made of white deer’s neck hair, which was sheathed with a tendon thread.”
The patterns were “cut” from smooth dense fur, putting two future pieces on top of each other: this was done in order not to unnecessarily disturb the kamus lining. Then the dark part was sewn into the light one, and the seams were covered with strips of colored cloth. Additionally, the mosaic could be decorated with beads.
