Manufacture of gloves and handbags

Footwear is not the only purpose for which leather is used. There are a lot of other goods produced of leather and some fields of human artistic activity where leather is considered as an extremely appropriate basic material. The first item to be mentioned in this respect are gloves.

Gloves are by no means minor accessories of dress. Whether worn or carried, they form one of the finishing touches of the elegantly attired man or woman. As protective covering for all kinds of purposes – gardening, sport, industrial purposes – their importance is very great and probably growing. In Britain common use of gloves was a comparatively late development in clothing. It is thought that extended sleeves of early Norman times were designed, in part at least, as protection for hands. It was, however, not till the 16th century that Queen Elisabeth set the fashion for wearing gloves richly embroided and jeweled. France was to be the largest world maker of leather gloves.

The manufacture of well-fitting gloves requires leather with special properties and a high degree of skill in cutting-out in order that gloves can stretch with the movement of the hand and yet fit well. The skill of the glove cutter lies in getting the stretch in each direction before the final cutting to shape takes place. The stages in glove cutting are as follows: damping the leather, then stretching it suitably, next cutting out the trank, and finally cutting out the actual shapes from the trank, either by hand by means of a template and knife, or with a die. The method employed for the best gloves is known as table cutting, each trank being considered separately in the final cutting.

Ladies’ handbag is one more article whose manufacture has long become a modern specialized trade. It is highly sectionalized, many types of sewing machines being used in their manufacture, including special models for fancy stitching. Drawstring or snaps, buckles, or other hardware can also fasten the bag. Straps of leather, rope, or chain may be stitched or riveted in place.

The leather craftsman may also be an artist who embellishes his work with any of a variety of techniques. He can work the surface of leather that has been dampened for greater flexibility. For example, he can stamp a clearly depressed image on it with stamping tools, cold or hot, like cattle brands. He can incise designs with pointed instruments or carve away parts of the surface with gouges to build a relief design. He can tool (press) the surface with smooth instruments or emboss it from the back to create relief, texture, and shading. He can also paint, gild, or em­broider leather, or decorate it with appliqueed leather pieces or metal plaques or with studs, rivets, or nails, or trim it with knotting, fringe, or braid.

The contemporary leather craftsman may use leather to make pure art objects, especially sculp­ture. Layers of leather laminated into a solid block are then carved. A leather skin covers a skeletal core or is cemented in sections to form a hollow geometrical solid. Thick leather is wetted and bent or molded into sculptural forms. In addition, leather is woven with other materials on looms, built into collages and reliefs, and tied into macramé-knotted three-dimensional forms. It is also used as a painting surface or as a negative, from which sandal soles or other shapes have been decoratively punched or cut.

LEATHERWORK

Leatherwork consists of objects made of dressed animal skins. Because the structure of leather is a vast random network of coil-like molecules linked in fibrous strands, leather is one of the strongest flexible sheet materials known. It resists tearing and puncture, yet it can be stretched. As a porous substance, it can absorb moisture and "breathe," and it has insulating qualities. Also, leather is easily worked. It may, for example, be wrapped, rolled, molded, or folded. It may be puckered, crinkled, pierced, sewn, embossed, tooled, stamped, branded, carved, braided, knotted, glued, nailed, or woven. In addition, it is abundantly available in endless variety all over the world.

In view of these advantages, it is readily seen why leather is widely used for such things as clothing, shelter, upholstery, hangings, harnesses, saddles, receptacles, and bookbindings. Often these utilitarian objects are decorated to produce works of art.

Technique. The pelt of an animal must be treated to prevent decomposition and stiffening before it becomes workable leather. It is first cured and cleaned and then tanned with oil, vegetable tannins, or, most commonly today, with minerals, principally chromium salts. It may then be dyed and given a smooth or embossed grain finish or a suede finish. For the commercial manufacture of leather, see leather.

Leatherwork as a Craft. The leather craftsman first decides what functional object to make for example, a handbag and constructs a paper pattern. He then chooses leather to suit the purpose of the bag and the requirements of the pattern. The leather is cut out with shears or knives and is usually lined for increased bulk by laminating two pieces together. The seams are joined by hand or machine sewing or by hand lacing. For handwork, holes are made first with punches or awls. Functional line stitches are set in from the edges of the leather; functional and decorative edge stitches loop over them. Straps of leather, rope, or chain may be stitched or riveted in place. The bag can be fastened by drawstring or snaps, buckles, or other hardware.

Leatherwork as an Art, The leather craftsman, especially in the past, may also be an artist who embellishes his work with any of a variety of techniques. He can work the surface of leather that has been dampened for greater flexibility. For example, he can stamp a clearly depressed image on it with stamping tools, cold or hot, like cattle brands. He can incise designs with pointed instruments or carve away parts of the surface with gouges to build a relief design. He can tool (press) the surface with smooth instruments or emboss it from the back to create relief, texture, and shading. He can also paint, gild, or em­broider leather, or decorate it with appliqueed leather pieces or metal plaques or with studs, rivets, or nails, or trim it with knotting, fringe, or braid.

The contemporary leather craftsman may use leather to make pure art objects, especially sculpture. Layers of leather laminated into a solid block are then carved. A leather skin covers a skeletal core or is cemented in sections to form a hollow geometrical solid. Thick leather is wetted and bent or molded into sculptural forms. In addition, leather is woven with other materials on looms, built into collages and reliefs, and tied into macramé-knotted three-dimensional forms. It is also used as a painting surface or as a negative, from which sandal soles or other shapes have been decoratively punched or cut.

HISTORY

Primitive and Ancient. Primitive man, perhaps as early as 20,000 b. c., learned to preserve pelts and to bind them about himself or to cut and sew them together for garments. He also wove strips into baskets and molded wet leather around a foot or hard core to make shoes and containers. Because his methods of preservation were not entirely effective, there is little chance of recovering samples of early leather-craft. Among the oldest leather objects on record are relatively sophisticated articles sandals, bags, cushions from pre-dynastic Egyptian graves from before 5000 b. c. Later Egyptian tombs and excavations in Siberia and northern Europe have produced many more items, including containers, sheaths, and garments. Paleolithic cave drawings, Middle Eastern stone sculpture, and murals in Egyptian tombs illustrate ancient man working leather and using it not only for clothing but also for armor, boats, chariot flooring and tires, chair seats, tents, flagons, waterskins, wineskins, rope, hinges, buttons, buckles, and windowpanes.

There are also many literary references to leather. For example, according to the Bible, Adam and Eve were clothed in garments of skin supplied by God (Genesis 3:21). Homer mentions Odysseus' skin cap and Laertes' leather gloves. Julius Caesar noted the use of leather sails by a tribe in Gaul. Other references indicate that peoples all over the world were exploring the manufacture and use of leather.

Many tribal and nomadic peoples became expert workers in leather, which their prey or their flocks and herds provided and which made light, portable objects well suited to their way of life. The Tuareg and other Saharan peoples made bags, cushions, and rugs, often with painted, embroidered, tooled, or appliqueed leather decoration in striking geometric designs. Siberian nomads made leather clothing, bags, flagons, and horse trappings, which they ornamented with dyes, paint, embroidery beads, modeling, and appliqueed leather and metal. Eskimos and American Indians were particularly skillful at sewing leather clothing, often embroidered with quills or, later, beads. Fringe may originally have served as camouflage for the hunter before it became purely embellishment.

Medieval and Later. Handcrafted leatherwork continued to be important from the Middle Ages until the Industrial Revolution. One of its chief uses was for the manufacture of books. Since ancient times man had written on one side of a leather roll. From about the 4th century a. d. until paper became prevalent during the Renaissance, most European books were written on both sides of specially prepared sheets of thin leather failed parchment or vellum. The sheets were bound together inside stiff covers, which were frequently wrapped for protection in a thinly sliced (skived) piece of leather sewn or cemented in place. Medieval bookbindings were often elaborately stamped, tooled, or embossed and further protected by metal bosses (protuberances) and corners. During the Renaissance and later, such surface modeling of leather bindings was of great intricacy. Stamping was often combined with gold leaf, originally a Muslim technique.

Dining the Middle Ages, Muslim craftsmen in the Middle East and Spain were especially skilled leatherwork. First their products and then their techniques spread to the rest of Europe. The Spaniards, under Moorish influence since the 8th century, early became master leatherworkers. Particularly adept at leather relief, they tooled, carved, or embossed wall hangings, upholstery, bed covers, and couches, often combining the modeling with gilding (gold leaf or silver or tin covered with yellow varnish) or blight paint. Perhaps the Spaniards' greatest contribution to leather work was in the fabrication of saddlery. They carved addles and ornamented harness, whips and quirts, belts, holsters, and other items with woven knots and elaborate braid and applique.

Spanish leatherwork became fashionable throughout Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries and influenced the craft in Latin America. Italian leatherwork also became important in Europe, notably flat, painted Venetian leather used on walls, screens, and furniture. Although most leatherwork was industrialized in the 19th century, Spanish and Italian craftsmen continue to make fine leather goods shoes, gloves, handbags, boxes, picture frames.

20th Century American. American leatherwork, especially in the West and Southwest, was influ­enced by Spanish and Indian styles, as, for example, in elaborately tooled and stamped cowboy saddles and fringed jackets. As a reaction to the industrialization of leather manufacture, leather-work, requiring a minimum of equipment, became a popular handcraft for both adults and children. Small leather shops appeared in mid-century, most often in resort and college communities, selling handmade sandals, belts, bags, and garments, especially to the young. Leather also became fashionable for sling chairs and woven chair seats. In addition, artists and sculptors explored the use of leather as a purely aesthetic medium. Workers in leather generally tended to avoid stamping and tooling in order to take advantage of the texture and color of the material.