VIII — Leather and Horn
Chapter VIII Leather and Horn
Spanish leather—“Cuir boulli” work—Tapestry and upholstery—Leather bottles and drinking vessels—Leather curios—Shoes—Horn work.
That “there is nothing like leather” has been believed by people of all ages, and in many countries the general belief has been put into practice, for many indeed are the uses to which leather has been put. As a lasting material it has been proved to possess excellent qualities. The artist, too, has found that leather is capable of being treated so as to give the effect of delicate carvings, and to serve well many purposes of decoration.
In the East leather was used in patriarchal times, the skins of animals making excellent water bottles. In mediæval England leather black jacks, cups, and flagons withstood the rough usage of those roisterous times. The collector seeks both useful and ornamental, and finds much to delight among the old leathern objects hid away as being now quite useless or antiquated.