Leather work, like weaving and pottery, is of very ancient origin.
The New Testament text concerning "new wine in old bottles" referred
to bottles of leather, or wine skins. We read of leather as having
been used in still earlier times for shields, saddles, harnesses,
parts of chariots, and as an accessory to clothing. In the middle ages
the "gentle craft of leather" was not confined to the shoemakers'
useful productions but included much ornamental work. There were wall
coverings of leather with designs carved, or modelled, or stamped with
hot tools; seats were upholstered and books were covered with tooled
leather. Some of this work was richly adorned with painted and gilt
figures like the celebrated Spanish leather.
_Why Leather is Suited to Decoration._--Leather seems, therefore,
to have won the right to a high place among the materials suited to
decoration. Its beautiful texture, the rich brown tones of its natural
colour, the ease with which it takes dyes, and the readiness with
which under proper treatment, it receives and retains the marks of the
modelling tool, qualify it to minister to the artistic sense no less
than its durability enables it to serve the more common uses.
_Limited Decoration Desirable._--The tooling of leather is based upon
the fact that, when wet, the fibre yields readily to compression and
receives impressions that are retained after the leather is dry. But
the beauty of design depends upon the colour and texture of the surface
quite as much as upon the figured impressions upon it. It is therefore
a good point in design not to cover the surface so completely that the
peculiar beauty of the material itself be lost. The decorations should
be bold and rich, but the tooling should be confined to a small part of
the surface. Calf skin and cowhide are well suited to tooling. They are
supplied in two general forms, _viz._, the smooth, generally as Russia
calf, and the rough or split cowhides, known as ooze. Leather may be
stained a variety of colours by aniline dyes; but since the natural
colour of leather is brown, brownish tones are more satisfactory than
the blues, greens, violets, grays, etc., because they seem more sincere.
[Illustration: Leather-working tools]
_Tools._--The simple tools required for tooling leather may be
purchased at small cost, or they may be made from cheap nut picks
by filing these to shape, polishing them, and buffing them. The
illustrations show two different tools, each double pointed. A and
B are different views of the first tool; C is the second tool. The
narrow pointed end of the first tool is for outlining and working into
corners. The broad, flat end is for smoothing down and for general use;
the broad tool should be used whenever possible. The round point on
the left end of C is used for outlining and transfering the design to
leather. The right hand end of C is known as the background tool. It is
cupped out like a nail set, as indicated by the lengthwise section just
above and by the end view at the extreme right; in fact, a nail set may
be used for the same purpose. The background tool, however, is to be
used sparingly. If used to excess, especially on large surfaces, the
result is likely to have a mechanical and "shoppy" appearance.