CHAPTER V
THE CHOICE OF DESIGN AND COLOUR 76
APPENDIX LEATHER HANGINGS AND FURNITURE 80
NOTE SOME EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LEATHER FOR BOOKBINDING, APPOINTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, FEBRUARY, 1900 90
INDEX 96
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
FIG. PAGE
1. Tracing-point 20
2, 3. Incising knife used downwards like a pencil 21
4, 5. Incising knife used upwards 22
6, 7. Incising knife held like a graver and pushed forward 23
8. Executing a slanting cut when the edge of the leather is to be subsequently turned up 24
9. Opener 25
10. Enlarging the outline with the opener 25
11. Slanting cut 26
11a. Showing the difficulty of raising the inner edge _A_ 26
12. Lowering the outer edge with a modeller 29
13. Ball-shaped steel tool with handle 32
14. Position of hands in embossing leather 32
15. Tool for working reed decoration 34
16. Using a hand punch 36
17. Cutting-out knife 40
18. Paring knife 43
19. Paring knife 43
20. Paring leather 44
21. Cutting-out knife 46
22. Cutting-out knife 46
23. Cutting-out knife 46
24. Cutting out inlay 48
25. Using roller to secure adhesion of inlay 51
26. First position of outlining tool 53
27. Second position of outlining tool 53
28. Gouge outliner 56
29. Outlining wheel 56
30. Gouge outliner 56
31. Straight outliner 56
32. Polishing mosaic 57
33, 34. Sticking inlay on morocco ground with tool (Fig. 33) instead of roller, to avoid crushing the grain 60
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE _Page_
1. Blind-stamped leather binding of the _Winchester Domesday Book_. English, 12th century. (_Frontispiece_)
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, LONDON.
2. Casket covered with stamped leather, _cuir bouilli_. German, 14th century. 22
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
3. Coffret covered with leather, incised, coloured and gilt. French, 14th century. 24
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
4. Casket covered with embossed leather, _cuir bouilli_. French, early 15th century. 28
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
5. Case of cut and embossed leather, _cuir bouilli_. Italian, 15th century. 32
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
6. Blind-stamped morocco binding with gilt roundels and coloured cameo design. _Celsus._ _De Medicina._ _Venice_, 1477. Italian, 15th century. 37
BRITISH MUSEUM.
7. Case of cut and punched leather. German, 15th century. 40
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
8. Brown leather binding, cut and engraved, with punched background. _German MS. Chronicle of Events._ German, 15th century. 44
BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD.
9. Cover of case for a cup in wood covered with leather, _cuir bouilli_, cut, embossed, painted and gilt. Italian, about 1500. 49
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
10. Cover of work-box of wood covered with embossed leather, _cuir bouilli_. German, 16th century. 56
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
11. Powder-flask of wood covered with leather, _cuir bouilli_, cut and embossed. Italian, 16th century. 56
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
12. Shield of cut and embossed leather, _cuir bouilli_. Italian, 16th century. 60
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
13. Top of casket covered with brown calf, cut and slightly embossed. By Florence Hornblower. Modern English. 65
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
14. Embossed and punched brown calf binding. _Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám._ Designed by Mary G. Houston. Modern English. 66
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
15. Mirror case of punched black leather, _cuir bouilli_. Executed by Miss Casella. Modern English. 71
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
16. Black morocco binding with applied panels of tooled, cut, painted and gilt calf. _Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut._ Designed by Robert Engels. Modern French. 74
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
17. Binding of stained calf, cut, embossed, tooled and _patinated_. By Henri Godin. Modern French. 78
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
18. Gold-tooled and inlaid morocco binding. _The Letters of Princess Lieven._ By S. T. Prideaux. Modern English. 82
19. Back and seat of chair in cut, embossed and gilt cowhide with punched background. Executed by Rosalie Vigers from a design by Frederick Vigers. Modern English. 84
20. Embossed calf binding. _Book of Common Prayer._ Executed by Rosalie Vigers from a design by Frederick Vigers. Modern English. 86
INTRODUCTION
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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