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KINGSMERE CRAFTS
HAND-CRAFTED LEATHER GOODS
Some of the many kinds of leather - continued
Ostrich:- A native of North Africa, and found in Australia, fast running, flightless, largest existing bird with stout two-toed feet, dark feathers and bald head. The leather has a characteristic grain, with heavy quill marks covering about half the skin. Careful planning is essential if maximum use of the skin is to be obtained. Ostrich is normally finished in tan colour and averages about 12-17 sq ft. While ostrich leather is considered one of the world's most unique looking leathers, Ostrich Grain Embossed Splits look like the real thing but cost much less. Excellent for personal accessories like purses, handbags, key cases, coin purses and more. Also used as a distinctive trim. Splits average up to 17 sq ft in 1½ to 2 oz weight.
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Parchment:- The characteristic features of parchment, which confirm its animal origin, can usually be recognized under close examination with a hand lens (30x) or a microscope. These features include the hair follicle pattern, veining, natural scars and bruises, and, in certain skins, fat deposits. The follicle pattern may be most pronounced across bony areas of the animal, such as the ribs or spine. Raking, transmitted, and ultraviolet light often help to make these features more prominent.
Parchment is the untanned skins of animals, particularly of sheep and goat, prepared for use as a writing material. The name is a corruption of Pergamum, (situated in modern-day Turkey approximately 85 kilometres north of Izmir and 25 kilometres east of the Aegean Sea) the ancient city of Asia Minor where preparation of parchment (charta Pergamena) suitable for use on both sides was achieved in the 2nd century B.C. The skins were soaked in water, treated with lime to loosen the hair, scraped, washed, stretched, and dried, and then rubbed with chalk and pumice stone. A fine grade prepared from the skin of calf or kid became known as Vellum, a name applied during the Middle Ages to any parchment used in manuscripts.
It was the most common writing material during the early Middle Ages in Europe, replacing papyrus until it gave way to paper (when there was a strong demand for cheaper, more malleable materials) with the invention of printing in the 15th century. Parchment is made from the skin of sheep and goats and has considerably more strength and durability than papyrus, and yields readily to being folded into book form. Sometimes the term vellum is used indiscriminately, but vellum refers specifically to the skin of calves, used mainly as a binding material. For important manuscripts Vellum was often dyed purple. Parchment is still used for certain documents and diplomas, book-bindings, lampshades, drumheads, tambourines and banjos. Vegetable parchment, is paper treated to make it tough, translucent, and impervious to water.
The primary difference between leather and parchment is that in the production of leather all the processes are designed to produce a supple skin in which the bundles of fibres slide over one another in a flexible fashion. In the production of parchment the fibres are stretched so that they lie almost parallel to form a hard, rigid sheet. Parchment has great stability and permanence if kept in a dry, stable environment. Parchment rolls were very common, but the chief value of parchment was its ability to be stitched together in large gatherings to form durable and flexible volumes.Parchment is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture) and, while chemically stable, is dimensionally unstable and reactive to changes in the moisture level. Because parchment was created by stretching the fibres under strain, moisture will allow the fibres to change shape and cause distortion and wrinkles.
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Peccary:- A wild boar, genus Tayassu, native to Central and South America. Similar to pigskin, a grain leather also known as hogskin. (Hogskin is also obtained from another South American rodent called the carpincho.) The leather is smooth, firm and supple and very durable and can easily be recognised by the hair-holes which are in groups of three. It makes a very smart glove for casual and country wear.
It is pig-like in appearance. Its head and shoulders are large; legs and
hindquarters small. Grizzled greyish or blackish above and below, with a
yellowish tinge on the cheeks; whitish to yellowish irregular collar from
shoulder to shoulder. Heavy, bristly hair from head to back, erectable into a
mane. It has an inconspicuous tail with a pig-like snout. Its tusks (canines)
are about 1"– 1½" (3cm – 3·5 cm); only the tips protrude beyond
the lips. There are four toes on
the forefeet, and three on the hind-feet; all have 2 hooves, on the third and fourth toes.
Juveniles are brownish with a black stripe down the back. Ht 20"– 24" (50cm – 60 cm); L 35"– 40"
(87cm – 102 cm); T ¾"– 2¹/8" (1·9cm – 5·5cm); HF 7¹/8"– 7⅞" (18cm – 20 cm); Wt 30lb – 65 lb
(13·6kg – 30kg). Scat: Usually large, irregular segments or flattened disks when
feeding on very succulent vegetation.
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Peccary are the only wild native pig from the Americas. When in danger it fights viciously with its tusks. There are two species: the Collared peccary or javelina, its bristly, grizzled and grey black hair is marked with a white neck band and it survives in small numbers in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas but is more numerous southward to Patagonia; the white-lipped peccary is found from central Mexico to Paraguay. Both sexes have a musk gland on the rump. They eat a variety of plant and animal foods and their flesh is palatable.
Picker Leather:- The picker is the mechanism on either side of a power loom that throws the sharp pointed shuttle and receives it again as it is thrown back. For arming this mechanism, long experience has found nothing equal to a special, very tough leather, usually rawhide – either cattle or buffalo. Such picker leather is made extensively in the North of England and in parts of the USA, partly from native cattle hides and partly from imported buffalo hides. (see also, Picker Maker)
Pickled Sheepskins:- Un-split sheep and lambskins, from which the wool has been removed, treated with a solution of salt and acid to preserve them until the tanning operation begins.
Pigskin:- A leather produced from the skin of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa), also hogs. The hair follicles penetrate the whole substance of the skin and are clustered in threes. Has a characteristically looser fibre structure than sheep or goat. Widely used in the clothing, shoe, handbag and glove trade.
What makes this material so special? For an answer, we can look to our own human skin which has so many very special properties. Human skin breathes through many tiny pores, which allow it to keep the body cool in summer and comfortable in cold weather. It is tough and durable, protecting all of our inside working parts; yet, stays soft with very little attention. Pigskin is the most similar skin to our own. It, too, is breathable all the way through; is tough and durable; and (with some tender loving care from the tanner) can be soft and beautiful.
It is especially interesting to note that surgeons often use pigskin in their work since it has so many of these very special traits.
Pigskin is also a readily available by-product of the pork industry, which provides meat, ham, bacon, sausage, and other food. But, until the 1940’s it was impractical to look to pigskin as a major source of fine leather. Pigs were much tougher to skin — unlike the cow, which has a hide much like a coat, the pig required a highly-trained workman to remove the skin, and the process food as much as a half-hour by hand.
The most logical comparison might be a banana and an apple. The banana has a peel which is easily removed (much like the hide of a cow) while the apple has a peel which requires a great deal more skill, and a knife, to remove. Obviously, it takes a great deal more time to peel an apple than it does a banana.
This situation made pigskin a material which was difficult to obtain even with packing houses processing hundreds of animals an hour.
The solution to this problem came from company called Wolverine. After years of development, and more than $2-million in investment (an especially large sum since we are discussing millions of dollars in the 1940’s), Wolverine developed skinning and fleshing equipment which could remove the skins from pigs at a rate of more than 400 per hour.
That door opened a wide range of possibilities — from the development of shoes like Hush Puppies®, which featured the finest benefits of pigskin, to gloves, and upholstery in thousands of automobiles, all of which have those benefits of breath-ability, toughness, easy maintenance and beauty. Today, this technology is still at work making pigskin even better, with even a weather-tight leather available which is ideal for footwear which must withstand special conditions.
Pin Seal or Pin Grain:- Name commonly applied to natural grain of high-grade sealskin, tanned for fancy leather. Also imitated on sheepskin, goatskin, calfskin, and cowhide, but these should be described as "pin-grain sheepskin", "pin-grain goatskin", etc.
Rambee Bisonte:- Processed on a hard-wax tannage with a light polish added to enhance its dressy appearance. Has a natural milled grain and a very light pull-up, providing a slight contrast in tone when used for upholstery and giving outstanding results when used on premium sofas, etc.
Rawhide:- Un-tanned hide or skins. "White" rawhide is a very flexible, high tensile leather. Resistant to water and low temperatures. For sledges and marine use. Has a parchment like appearance and pungent smell. Rawhide is made by scraping the skin thin, soaking it in lime, and then stretching it while it dries. Like alum-tanning, rawhide is not technically "leather", but is usually lumped in with the other forms. Rawhide is stiffer and more brittle than other forms of leather, and is primarily found in uses such as drum heads where it does not need to flex significantly; it is also cut up into cords for use in lacing or stitching, or for making many varieties of dog chews. Reverse Retan:- Leather tanned first with vegetable tannin and then with chromium compounds.
Reversed Calf:- Term applied to calf leather of heavier weights, finished on flesh side, containing oils to make it more water-resistant than suede, used for shoes where a nappy leather is required. Originally called "Trench Calf" in England, the term "Hunting Calf" is also used in this country. The term "Service Leathers" is also used but is generally applied to splits and side leather.
Rexine:- Strictly speaking this entry should not be here at all. It's a trade-name for leather-cloth a strong, coated cloth, usually in the form of an imitation leather, and used in upholstery and bookbinding. The weave and composition of the base (grey) cloth depending on the grade of cloth being manufactured at the time, and could be cotton or a cotton and rayon mixture. Its cellulose nitrate coating is coloured by mixing powdered pigments with synthetic oils and is applied in several layers, each being dried before the next application. It was listed in the 1915 Trademarks Journal as belonging to the British Leather-cloth Manufacturing Co Ltd (later Rexine Ltd) of Hyde, near Manchester. Polyvinyl chloride may also be used for the coating. Embossing is done with engraved steel rollers, usually to imitate the grain pattern of a leather, but sometimes with modern geometric designs. This type of cloth has been in use since the first decades of the 20th century. Nowadays mostly manufactured in India, comparatively cheap, with a range of colours, sold in rolls 1 or 2 metres wide, prone to damage.
Rigging Leather:- A strong flexible, vegetable tanned leather.
Roans:- A variety of leather produced from a superior grade of un-split sheepskin. Roan is softer than basil, and is coloured and finished in imitation of morocco . The typical roan has a close, tough, long, boarded grain, a compact structure, and is usually dyed a red colour. Originally, roans were leathers tanned exclusively with sumac (as were the moroccos); however, in later years they were often tanned with other vegetable tannins. They were used extensively for covering books from about 1790 until well into the 19th century, but have been seldom used since that time.
Roller Leather:- Special vegetable tanned leather for the covers of the upper rolls of cotton-spinning machinery. Tanned from certain classes of sheep, lamb, and calfskins.
Russet:- A term of varied meaning in the leather trade, since it denotes both colour and tanning. Russet calf is the natural colour of unfinished calf leather resulting from tanning by vegetable extracts. Russet harness is a completely finished leather of uniform colour and finish. Russet sheepskin, used for shoe linings, is leather tanned in cold-leached hemlock bark, with the colour resulting from the hemlock. Russet upholstery is leather, tanned, but not finished.
Russia Leather:-
Leather characterised by its odour. "Anglo Russians" are skins treated with birch tar oil to imitate the
smell of Russia leather.
(1) The Russians manufactured for a long time a variety of
red leather called Juncten. This leather has an agreeable and characteristic
odour, does not attract mould even in damp places and is not attacked by insects.
It is a smooth leather, tanned with willow, birch or oak, and scented on the
flesh side with birch oil.
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(2) Originally and properly calfskin shoe leather, dressed with birch oil and distinguished by its odour rather than its appearance.
Saffian:- Is a leather tanned with sumach. Usually goatskin or sheepskin it is dyed in bright colours. It is embossed to give a crosshatched texture to the leather.
Saladero Hides:- South American hides corresponding to all hides produced in the United States by the larger "small packers".
Satin Finish:- A dull or matt finish on leather as distinguished from a "glazed" finish.
Scotch Grain:- A embossed, pebbled pattern, usually on cattle hide or calf leather, made to resemble heavy leather with a coarse grain, which originated in Scotland.
Sealskin:- Sealskin comes in fine and coarse grain variants. The follicle pattern is irregular and independent of the grain (hence it is found on the rises as well as in the hollows). There is some resemblance to goatskin and it has an oily feel.
Semillee:-A semi-aniline dyed full-grain water buffalo leather with a very soft hand and a richly polished surface. Semillee is also hand-stained and rubbed providing a richness that accentuates the beauty of the natural buffalo grain.
Shagreen:- From Turkish "saghri" meaning the croup of a beast. Originally made in Persia from the probably un-tanned hides of asses, horses and camels. Seeds of a species of Chenopodium were trampled into the skin when it was moist and shaken out when it dried, thus leaving granular indentations. The material was then stained. In the 17th century and later, shagreen was made either of finely granulated shark skin or of the skin of a ray fish, whose pearl like papillae were ground flat, leaving a lovely pattern. The shark's hide lasts an extremely long time if it is prepared correctly, namely if it is well flayed and then washed, cured, dried, etc. The dried skin is known as "shagreen" because of its similarity to the un-tanned granulate hide of the back and hindquarters of a horse (this also being known as shagreen).
The most sought-after skin which fetches the highest price in the leather industry is that of the Tiger Shark. Hammerhead skin is among the cheapest. The denticles are removed before the skin is tanned to make durable leather which is used for quality shoes and cowboy trousers. It is even more elastic than cowhide or pigskin and much sturdier (150 times more resistant to wear than that of bovine leather).
The Japanese are the world's leading shark-catchers having a long tradition involving sharks. This is why samurai swords have always had hilts covered with Angel Shark hide, the roughness of which prevents the sword from slipping in the hand.
A highly prized leather, "Boroso", comes from the processing of Moroccan sharks. The dermic denticles are not removed, but polished so as to give the leather a texture that is both aesthetically pleasing and very tough.
Shearling:- Wooled sheep and lambskins tanned with the wool intact.
Sheepskin:- The skin from a mature sheep is indicated by the un-split skin and does not have an attractive grain. Inferior to goatskin, so is frequently embossed. When sheepskins are split before tanning it is generally oil dressed and converted into chamois leather.
Shrunken Grain Leather:- A full, natural-grain leather which is shrunken to enlarge and enhance the grain of the leather.
Shrunken Lamb:- A tanning process that actually shrinks the hide, creating a more pebbly or puckered, grainy appearance.
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Skiver:- The thin grain layer split from a sheepskin, Persian or goat and is generally split before tanning. Variable qualities. Because of the paper-thickness to which skivers are sometimes split and because of the variety of grains with which they are embossed, it is sometimes assumed that skiver is not leather. The qualities are wide ranging. Some are so thin it is possible to see through the hair follicles, but it is still leather.
