  LEATHER HANGINGS AND FURNITURE The origin of the use of decorated leather for hangings and furniture has been the subject of much controversy. After consulting various books on the subject, we believe, as already stated, that its introduction into Spain may be attributed to the Moorish conquerors about the eighth century. In an Arabian manuscript of the sixth century of the Mohammedan era, mention is made of the industry as flourishing in the town of Ghadames in the Sahara. Jehan de Garlande, author of a Latin dictionary composed in 1080, mentions Cordouans first manufactured at Cordova in the eleventh century. About the same time, the Monk Theophilus, in his curious encyclopÆdia of the arts which unfortunately has not come down to us in its complete form, gives the following description of the processes of gilding leather:— “For laying on gold or silver, take the clear liquid of white of egg beaten up without water, paint some with a brush over the part which is to receive the gold or silver. Damping the end of the same brush in your mouth, bring it in contact with a corner of the cut leaf (of gold or silver). Then lifting it with extreme rapidity, you lay it on the prepared place and spread it with a dry brush. At this point you must take precautions against a draught, you must hold your breath, for if you breathe you will lose the leaf and find difficulty in recovering it. When in position and dry you may, if you wish, put a second over it in the same way, and then a “You can, if you wish, apply the leaf on a ceiling or a wall; in the same manner, over a lining of tinfoil. If you have neither gold nor silver, you will use tinfoil, which you will apply thus....” Until the middle of the seventeenth century, hangings, and even carpets, of decorated leather formed an important item in those inventories of princely possessions which are such a reliable and inexhaustible source of information for the historian of the sumptuary arts. The enumeration of all the different processes by which the leather was ornamented would carry us beyond the limits of this appendix, and we will confine ourselves to tracing in outline the development of the art of working in leather as applied to hangings and furniture during the last few centuries. First in order of time we find skins covered with hair, sewn together for carpets or hangings; different kinds being placed side by side, either irregularly, or alternately to form a pattern. We are not, however, here concerned with anything but leather proper, that is to say, skins with the hair removed, and this was first decorated by means of a hot tool. The addition of colour speedily followed. Dark coloured leathers were also sewn as borders on lighter ones, and polished metal ornaments were added to brighten the leather groundwork, a fashion borrowed from the method of joining and strengthening the accoutrements of war. Little by little, as the custom spread of reproducing the human figure and animals, attempts were made to carry out whole pictures on panels made of leather sewn together with the seams hammered flat. But painted leather was still generally of comparatively small dimensions, and it would seem that these pictures were designed chiefly for the ornamentation of chests. The leather was first stretched over wooden panels, several panels being sometimes placed side by side. A special paste was used, the object of which was to cause the leather to shrink when dry, so as to make the panels adhere more closely together. The following description by the Monk Theophilus of the paste used in his time for this sort of work may interest the reader:— “Panels for altars or doors are made thus:—First join some boards carefully one by one with the help of the joining tool used by coopers or joiners. They must be fastened together with cheese paste made in the following manner:—Some soft cow’s-milk cheese is cut very thin and washed with hot water in a mortar with a pestle, changing the water until it comes out clear. The cheese after being pressed in the hand is put into cold water until it hardens. It is then well crushed with a piece of wood on a smooth wooden table. In this condition it is put back into the mortar to be carefully pounded with the pestle, after having added water mixed with quicklime till it becomes thick like a sediment. Panels put together with this paste when dry, stick so fast that neither damp nor heat can separate them. They must then be made even with a special tool for this purpose. This tool, curved and sharp on the inside, has two handles, so that it may be used with both hands. It is used to level panels, doors and shields until they are perfectly smooth. They are then covered with untanned mule-skin or ox-hide, after it has been wetted and the hairs scraped off. The water is partly squeezed out, and while still damp it is stuck on with the cheese paste.” In the eleventh century we come to the first employment of gold leaf on decorated leather, whence is derived the name, “or basanÉ,” which it afterwards received. The passage describing the process of gilding has been quoted already (page 80), but each master of the art no doubt introduced his own modifications. With the introduction of gold, leather decoration assumed a magnificence and importance hitherto unknown. The heads of the saints were surrounded with golden haloes, and the gold and silver embroideries of the sacerdotal ornaments were carried out in those metals on the leather. A little later the knights are represented clad in brilliant armour with plumed helmets. The correct rendering of the heraldic colouring of the coats of arms figuring on shield and target then necessitated the use of a more extended range of oil colours, until, little by little, decorated leather grew to resemble the paintings of Van Orley. Meanwhile, punches, cut in relief or in intaglio and used with a hammer, were adopted to break the monotony of the groundwork and throw up the relief of the ornament, and the fashion also arose of embossing leather with a modelling tool or by means of stamps, the latter method necessarily resulting in the substitution of repeating ornament for figures and landscapes. Leather manufactured in Spain, Portugal, Flanders, and later in England is almost always decorated in high relief with touches of gold, the design being principally flowers, foliage, cupids, pomegranates, etc. Venice alone remained faithful to flat decoration with hollowed or merely darkened outline in the cameo-like medallions of classical scenes painted on groundwork whose design was borrowed from the gorgeous stuffs of the East. The fashion imported from Italy in the reign of Francis I of breaking up surfaces with pilasters, cornices, medallions and ornaments in relief, was instrumental in adding Already under Catherine de MÉdicis, decorated leather had become extremely popular, and was preferred to all other hangings for the embellishment of apartments; its popularity lost nothing under the second wife of Henry IV, in whose native country this style of decoration was also held in great favour. In the reign of Louis XIII the influence of Anne of Austria brought Spanish leather again into fashion. From that time also, leather gilt or stamped in its natural colour and ornamented with copper nails (probably inspired by the marriage chests with their curious studded ornament) was found in the mansions of the great and became the principal material for covering chairs. The grandiose style of architecture of the time of Louis XIV called for the decoration of spaces framed in gorgeous pilasters and was favourable to the application of decorated leather in the style of BÉrain. But this did not long remain popular, and leather was replaced by Gobelin and other tapestries made in France, whose introduction gave the deathblow to the manufacture of leather hangings. From this period till the present day the art of gilding leather has been on the decline. Of this no further proof is needed than the following preface written in 1762 by Fougeroux de Boudaroy, who had been commissioned by the Academy to take over the work of research, previously conducted by RÉaumur, on the subject of leather hangings:— “Flanders, Holland and England are reputed to have furnished the first gilt or silvered leather hangings seen in Paris. Some attribute their invention to Spain, but without apparent reason, since to-day there are in France no such hangings of Spanish manufacture, nor are they much known in that country. The gilt leather hangings which come to us from Flanders are nearly all made at Lille, Brussels, Antwerp and Mechlin; those derived from the last-named place are the most prized of all. Some very fine ones which we have attempted to imitate are made in Venice; manufactures were also started at Lyons and met with success. “It was only about two centuries ago that this trade was established in Paris. We owe it to some Flemish workmen who settled in the capital and left successors there. But on account of the nation’s prejudice in favour of all that comes from abroad, the hangings from Holland and Flanders were always preferred to those of our own manufacture, although they did not surpass the latter in quality or in beauty. “Though equalling those of Holland and Flanders, it was not possible to find a sale for our hangings unless they were passed off as having been made in one or other of those provinces, and this was frequently done by our manufacturers. It must, however, be admitted that certain gilt leather hangings from England and Venice have never been equalled here. We are forced to allow their superiority in brilliancy, beauty of design and durability. Perhaps all that our workmen needed to be able to imitate them perfectly was to feel the assurance of greater constancy in our tastes, and to witness the cessation of that affection and preference for everything foreign, which might lead to the more favourable treatment of the native industry. “Gilt leather hangings were at one time much sought after. Their qualities of being, unlike woollen and other materials, unaffected by damp and insects, of retaining their brilliancy unimpaired by time, of not attracting dust, and of allowing it to be easily removed by washing with a sponge, and finally, of not lending themselves to the multiplication of the insects which in summer infest the capital and which find in other tapestries convenient nests for depositing their eggs, were all advantages, forming so many reasons for their being in demand and gaining for them a place in the apartments of the great, “Now that the art is less in vogue, we think it a suitable time to describe it to the public, thus following the intention of the Academy of allowing nothing to be lost that may now or hereafter be useful to the cause of art. We may at any time be desirous of returning to these older fashions, no longer being able to vary them, and this may be among those destined to return to favour. At any rate, it will be agreed that some of its processes merit description, and might find their application in other arts and help in bringing them to perfection.” The same author describes minutely and very clearly the various processes in use at the time for gilding or silvering leather. Instead of silver-gilt, which is necessarily very costly, he recommends silver leaf burnished and covered with a varnish, for which he gives the following recipe, found by him, as he modestly acknowledges, among the papers of Mons. de RÉaumur:— “Take four and a half pounds of colophony, the same quantity of ordinary resin, two and a half pounds of sandarach and two of aloes; mix these four drugs together, after having broken up those which are in large pieces, and put them in an earthen pot on a good charcoal fire. It is better for the fire to be of charcoal, because it makes but little flame, which would be dangerous if it should enter the vessel, as the ingredients are very inflammable. To guard against this accident and others of which we will speak later on, the vessel must be chosen large enough not to be more than half-filled by the drugs already mentioned and the others yet to be added, as will presently be explained. It is well also for it to widen out at the top, or to have a rim that will project the flame outwards. These are small precautions which it is always better to take; some, however, neglect them, and “Melt all these drugs in the pot and stir them with a spatula so that they mix together and do not stick to the bottom. When they are well melted, pour in seven pints of linseed oil and mix it with the drugs, using the spatula. Cook the whole, stirring it from time to time to prevent as much as possible a kind of sediment which forms and does not mix with the oil from sticking to the bottom of the vessel. When the varnish is cooked, pass it through a cloth or strainer. “This quantity of varnish should, according to workmen, remain seven to eight hours on the fire to cook, but this cannot be regarded as an invariable rule. It will not take so long to cook on a large fire. A better test used by workmen in manufacturing varnish is to take a few drops of the liquid with the spatula and lay it over silver leaf on some leather; or else they take some of the varnish in a silver spoon and, by trying it with the finger tip as if it were syrup, find out if it is cooked enough. If it ropes in cooling, or if the finger has a tendency to stick when it is gently withdrawn, it is a sign that it is sufficiently cooked, that is to say that it has arrived at the consistency of a thickish syrup. The varnish is then brown in colour, and curiously enough when laid over silver it becomes transparent and gives the effect of brilliant gold.” While on the subject of gold groundwork made with gold or silver leaf or tin-foil covered with varnish to imitate the colour of gold, it is curious to note how far back in the history of art its origin can be traced; after the Greeks, the Byzantines made use of and, it may also be said, abused it. This want of moderation in the use of gold is to be met with long afterwards, for it is mentioned in his book on painting by L. Benedetto Alberti who died in Rome in 1472. Van Orley, Raphael’s pupil, when painting his “Last We have quoted above the formula for golden varnish given by Fougeroux de Boudaroy which he ascribes to RÉaumur. It may be found interesting to compare with it that given by the Monk Theophilus in his Diversarum Artium Schedula:— “Put some linseed oil in a small new pot; add some gum arabic called fornis pounded very fine; this gum is like very light incense, but is more brilliant when broken up. Place it on a charcoal fire and cook it carefully without allowing it to boil, until it is reduced by one third. Be very careful of flames, for they are very dangerous, and the preparation is difficult to extinguish if it once catches fire. Any painting coated with this varnish becomes brilliant, beautiful and perfectly lasting.... “Another method. Arrange three or four stones which will stand the fire without breaking, or bricks may be used instead. On these place a new pot, pour into it some fornis mentioned above, called by the Romans “glossa,” otherwise gum arabic. Over the opening of the pot, put a smaller one having a little hole at the bottom; fill in with clay so that no space remains between them. Carefully light a fire underneath the apparatus until the gum liquefies. You will also have a thin tool with a handle which will serve to stir the gum and to find out the exact moment when it becomes perfectly liquid. Have a third pot on charcoal by you in which there is hot linseed oil; when the gum is quite liquid, so that a thread of it hangs from the tool when it is withdrawn, pour in the hot oil, stir with the tool, and, when in this condition, cook all together without letting it boil, take out the tool from time to time and spread a little of the mixture on wood or stone to try its density. With regard to the proportion, be careful that there are two thirds of oil to one of gum. When it is cooked according to your judgment, take it off the fire and, covering it with care, let it cool. “Of the Method of Colouring Tinfoil to give it the Appearance of being Gilt, so that it may be used when Gold cannot be had. “Place the pieces (of tinfoil) side by side on the board, fasten them one by one to the wood with wax, so that they cannot get displaced, spread over them with the hand a coating of the varnish described above, and let them dry in the sun. After that take some sticks of rotten wood cut in April, slit in half and smoke dried. Peel off the outer bark and the second, which is the colour of saffron; scrape it into a clean vessel, adding to it a fifth part of saffron, macerate it well in old wine or ale; after letting it stand during the night, make it lukewarm the next morning. When in this condition, dip in the sheets of tinfoil one by one, frequently taking them out until you find them assume a golden shade, when you will again fix them on the wooden board and apply a coat of varnish as before; when dry you will have sheets of tinfoil that you can use as you wish in your work....” Although it may not be possible for an amateur, incompletely equipped with the necessary implements, to reproduce the marvellous work of a byegone age, there are still many methods of decoration for him to attempt which will be equally attractive in modern surroundings. |
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