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Articles
The History of
Leather
The
history of
leather is a long and lengthy one.
You will find leather artifacts in museums that
date back around twelve thousand years. The
working of
leather is one of the oldest crafts
known to mankind and is traced back to the Stone
Age. A good example of this type of work was
determined to have originated about 3,500 years
ago in ancient Egypt which was in the form of a
Gazelle skin, cut in a criss- cross pattern and
produced a lattice like effect. At first hard
leather was thought to be unworkable until later
on when it was found to be pliable when soaked
in water. This allowed the leather to be molded
into buckets, bottles, boxes, drinking vessels,
quivers and armor. In turn they were decorated
by embossing a design onto them while the
leather was wet. Another way of decorating
leather was to "tool" the skin which was
achieved by drawing a pattern onto the surface
of the leather, then impressing it with
a heated brass tool.
Over
the years leather products have always been
thought of as being of high value. In ancient
Rome for instance, leather sandals were worn by
the upper classes and leather was so highly
prized that Caesar decreed that coins were to be
made of leather. In China, in the second
century B.C., it was common to find a widespread
use of leather currency. Not only was it common
during medieval times to see the use of leather
as the basis for currency, but even during WWI,
leather coins were used in Germany and Austria.
At
first
leather objects were mainly functional,
but soon people learned the decorative potential
of leather. The Romans’ sexual free nature soon
realized that the essence of
leather was in its
erotic attributes and therefore played a big
part in their exotic escapades. Thanks to its
supple nature, products made from
leather
comprise function with remarkable beauty and
sensuality. The timeless desire of leather is
due to its warm color, luxurious texture,
aroma, and durability. Interestingly enough, no
two skins of
leather
are ever exactly alike.
This is mainly because the grain, texture, and
color, of leather are so different by nature,
The world has a love affair for
leather. Fine
leather continues to be influenced by its appeal
as a status symbol as well as its value.
As we
move into the new millennium, leather has
transcended all boundaries from mainstream
appeal to hardcore fetish.
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