Georges de Récy

From the French of Georges de Récy

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THE DECORATION OF LEATHER IN THE PAST

The following remarks, without attempting a description in detail of the different phases through which the art of decorating leather has passed since its origin in primitive times, deal with the treatment of leather solely from the decorative point of view, the present volume being limited to the consideration of this aspect of the subject.

In all ages man has sought to develop to their fullest extent the possibilities of splendour in the materials of his dress, and an important place in the wardrobes of our early ancestors was filled by skins shorn of hair, thus lending themselves easily to decoration in many different ways.

The nomadic races, described to us as at first riding their horses barebacked to the conquest of the West, soon adopted ornamental trappings more suited to their position as conquerors, as shown by the marvellous mosaics of piqué leather which from an early date constituted the foundation of the war-like equipment of the Tartars and Moguls.

In addition to magnificently woven materials and damascened arms, the Crusaders brought back with them to Europe, leather ornamented with wool, silk and precious metals. Europe set itself to imitate this art of working in leather, and found a source of faultless taste and purest models in Spain, then occupied by the Moors.

For several centuries the art of decorating leather remained the speciality of Spain. The word “cordwainer,” derived from Cordova, is a witness of this monopoly by the Peninsula of everything connected with leather-work, apart from the modelled and stamped leathers, introduced into Venice from the East.

Other countries, however, were doing better work than that of imitating the celebrated manufactures of Cordova. In Germany especially, leather was discovered to be an ideal material for rendering the mantles and plumed helmets of heraldry, while the marvels of carved and embossed leather preserved in the Dijon Museum are a proof of the interest taken in leather-work by the great decorative school of the court of Burgundy.

In the Middle Ages precious stuffs adorned with enamels, ivory and gold were discarded as covering for the beautiful manuscripts executed by the monks, and in their place heraldic subjects in carved and modelled leather were introduced and lent a new character to books which were no longer the exclusive property of crowned heads. The invention of printing afforded the Renaissance movement the means of attaining its full development, and soon called for a less archaic binding for its incunabula. Leather either decorated in mosaic or tooled in gold formed a perfect covering for these marvels of typography, and from the end of the fifteenth century to the present revival of decorated leather both styles have been much in use.

There are various standard works on this subject, which may be consulted by those desirous of studying its development further.

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TOOLS AND LEATHER

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The few tools essential in leather-work are illustrated in the text, where their use is described. They comprise:

1. A Lithographic Stone or a Slab of Marble (preferably the former).

2. A Tracing-point and some 6H Graphite Pencils.

3. An Incising Knife.

4. Modellers of different sizes.

5. An Opener.

Special tools, Punches, Wheels etc., are treated of at greater length in dealing with the different processes in which they are used.

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The art of working in leather is now so general that it is not difficult to obtain skins specially prepared for the purpose. It is an essential qualification that nothing of a fatty nature be used in their preparation. The tanning process of the best skins, whether with a glossy surface artificially obtained by rolling or with a dull surface, should be a very simple one. Oak and sumach tannins (used especially for morocco leather) are those which best preserve the suppleness and capillarity of leather. The susceptibility of its colour to alteration from exposure to light is greatly influenced by the materials used in tanning. Oak wood and chestnut are the tannins least influenced by light. Skins tanned with cassaigre and mimosa, light at first, become darkened in a marked degree by exposure.[1]

[1] See the observations on the importance of the tanning process in the preservation of leather, in the Note at the end of this volume.

So many varieties of leather are on the market that some guide will be found useful in selecting the most suitable for the different methods of decoration. These methods may be classified as follows:

Cut, or engraved leather.Carved leather.Punched or hammered leather.Modelled leather.Modelled leather with punched background.Leather decorated by pyrogravure and pointogravure.Stamped leather.Open-work leather.Leather mosaic.

The leathers which may be used in these various styles of decoration are

Sheep-skin.Cow-hide.Calf.Ox-hide.Morocco.Russia.Pig-skin.Chamois.Vellum.

Sheepskin does not lend itself either to incising or to carving and is only useful for cheap work; it is very malleable and models easily, but for that reason lacks the firmness of calf when modelled. It is also not possible to get such good colour results with sheep-skin as with calf, cow-hide, or ox-hide. It can be used for large work, such as wall-hangings, screens, etc., but is not recommended. Beginners, however, will find it useful on account of its low price.

Cow and calf are the most suitable leathers for really artistic work. Cow-hide may be obtained with either a glossy or a dull surface; the dull skins are sold specially prepared for decorating and give good results, the smoothness of their surface making them particularly suitable for modelling and pyrogravure.

Calf varies greatly in thickness and colour. It should be noted that in carved and modelled work the advantages of great malleability in the material are more than counterbalanced by the disadvantages; durable results cannot be obtained with very malleable leather which yields easily to the tool, and since high relief can be worked without difficulty in comparatively thick leather by damping it, its use is much to be preferred.

Ox-hide is frequently as thick as strong cardboard and is the ideal leather for carving, hammering and pyrogravure. In cut decoration a better effect can be obtained with this leather than with thinner skins, and being very firm, it is equally suitable for modelling.

Morocco leather, which is mostly of the kind called “Cape morocco,” is goat-skin with a grained surface produced by pressing hard seeds upon the skin while it is still damp from the tanning. For bookbinding and similar purposes this grain is crushed by pressing hot plates heavily on the surface. The only way of decorating leather so treated is by an inlay (or literally onlay) of skins of other colours, and is known as Leather Mosaic.[2]

[2] See the chapter on Leather Mosaic, p. 42.

The so-called Russia leather is generally very light and soft and well adapted to modelling on wax. It should not be cut.

Pig-skin is very firm and was formerly much used for the fine stamped bindings of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. It does not lend itself well to carving, but is very suitable for pyrogravure because of the contrast between its light tint and the dark brown mark produced by the hot tool.

Chamois leather, which is not always prepared from the skins of deer or chamois, is only suitable for flat ornament. It may be decorated by pyrogravure or with stencilled ornament, or used in its natural colour as background to an open-work pattern of leather of another colour.

Vellum, a very thin and stiff white skin, can be decorated with brush or pen-work. It is principally used for bookbinding. Those who wish to paint on vellum can draw their inspiration from the marvellous miniatures of the Middle Ages: a description of this style of decoration, however, does not come within the scope of the present work.

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METHODS OF WORKING IN LEATHER

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In this chapter the different processes which may be used in the decoration of leather will each be described in turn.

The preliminary operation of tracing the design on the leather is however common to them all.

The design should in the first instance be drawn on fairly thick tracing-paper or architect’s linen. This should then be fixed on the leather in such a way that it does not move during the transfer of the design, but so that it is possible to lift it to ascertain the progress of the work. It will be found convenient to fold the edge of the tracing-paper over the top edge of the leather and fix it with seccotine.

The leather must be wet in order to take the impression of the tracing. A soft, slightly damp sponge is passed several times evenly over the whole surface; if only a part of the leather were wetted an aureole would form round that part and would leave a permanent mark. When the leather has once been wetted all over there is no further fear of this, and it may then be damped again in parts when necessary. Practice alone will make it possible to judge accurately the degree of saturation that each skin requires to bring it into a fit condition for working on; speaking generally, the water should have penetrated the leather so that the pressure of the tool will not bring it back to the surface. Neglect of this rule might result in staining the leather.

FIG. 1.—TRACING-POINT

The design is transferred to the leather by means of a metal tracing-point (Fig. 1). An agate or ebony point, or an exceedingly hard 6H graphite pencil, may also be used for the purpose. The pencil possesses the additional advantage that it can be given a very fine point where an extra thin and sharp outline is required. Doubling the outline by going over it twice should be avoided. From time to time the tracing-paper or linen should be raised to see that the design is being well marked on the leather. The outline should be dark; when it comes light it is a proof that the leather is too dry and requires damping again.

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This being the first operation in working thick leather by carving, engraving and modelling, it will be dealt with before passing to the different processes peculiar to these methods of decoration. The incising is done after the design has been traced. There are numerous incising knives for the purpose which vary in shape and are manipulated in different ways; no one of them can be specially recommended as notably superior to the rest, and the artist should choose the one with which he feels most likely to succeed. The knife illustrated in Fig. 2 is used with a downward movement and is held—as shown in Fig. 3—very short, so as to obtain a sufficient purchase over the blade which is guided by the middle finger. The knife illustrated in Fig. 4 is used upwards. Fig. 5 shows the manner in which it should be held to produce a vertical cut. It will be found of great assistance in making a good firm cut to guide the right hand with the left hand as in Fig. 5. When curved lines are to be cut, the left hand must be used to turn the leather so as to present it in the most favourable position for the operation of the blade. The third knife (Fig. 6) is held like a graver with the handle supported against the palm of the hand and is pushed forward (Fig. 7). It is useful in cutting curved lines over a large surface. The depth of the incision should vary according to the effect to be produced by the subsequent operation, but it should never exceed a third of the thickness of the skin.