THE WORKING OF FLORENTINE LEATHER

The working of leather Since ancient times the man has used leather for different purposes thanks to its resistance and versatility. Before the Greeks other civilizations used leather to make footwear; the Romans employed it to make their cuirass, but only during the Renaissance a real school for the working of this material developed in Florence, where Royalty and aristocracy used to order objects in leather for their home decor.

At that time Tuscany – in particular Florence – represented the most important artistic and cultural centre of Italy, with its sudden spreading of leather workshops in the whole city. Today just a few artisans keep alive this old tradition by using the original techniques, wood moulds and obviously their manual skills. The working process is quite simple: you wet the row material to make it soft; then you give the desired shape by leaving it dry on a special mould for two days; the last step is the drying in an oven. Now the item is ready to be refined by smoothing it and by taking away any kind of imperfection.

The colouring is followed by the polishing phase that consists in spreading paraffin by using white-hot brass tools. This is useful not only to obtain a smooth aspect, but also to protect the leather and to keep intact its natural features. The very last step is that of handmade decoration. Thanks to the usage of old drift pins you carve geometric drawings which will be then filled in by pure gold leaves.