A Complete Guide to the Ornamental Leather Work Part 1

A Complete Guide to the Ornamental Leather Work.

by James Revell.

GENERAL REMARKS.

We feel a.s.sured that a long introduction is neither requisite to the reader or publisher of a Work like the present, and shall, therefore, merely say, that the great success our former little Works have met with, has induced us to send forth this edition, in which will be found every particular connected with this very useful source of amus.e.m.e.nt and fas.h.i.+onable department of _practical art_. The ill.u.s.trations are furnished by a late pupil of the School of Design, who obtained the highest prize for Flower Painting, a.s.sisted by a student of the ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS. Every example given has been practically tested, and, in most instances, the drawings have been copied from the models executed in leather, and will be found to combine durability with beauty of design. In order to make the leather modelling as durable as possible, we have not departed from nature in the finished form, but in the mode of construction; for example, we make several portions of a flower in one piece of leather. The Narcissus and the beautiful White Lily have each six petals; in both instances, we make the entire corolla of the flowers in one piece; thereby, while losing none of the beauty of the natural form of the flowers, we gain strength and solidity; as, were the petals of the Lily or Narcissus to be composed of six pieces, one, if imperfectly cemented, might fall off and detract from the beauty of the entire piece of work. By our method of proceeding, it is impossible to do so: we mention this, as, in our description of Making and Modelling Flowers in Leather, we differ from the literally botanic construction, while, at the same time, we arrive at perfectly correct and artistic formation.

In some flowers, as in the Hop, Dahlia, &c., we have found it impracticable to combine many petals in one piece of leather; where this is the case, especial care must be taken to have good liquid glue, and fasten each petal securely.

All leather to be used in Modelling Leaves, Flowers, &c., must be first wetted, and modelled while wet; and as this is a general rule, the student will understand that mention of the necessity of this operation will not in every instance be repeated.

Amongst the many uses to which Leather Work is applied, that of ornamenting Pulpits will be found a capital field for the display of this art, as it is capable of being moulded into any form, and nothing can possibly have a more substantial and beautiful appearance.

Gla.s.ses of varied form, as jelly gla.s.ses and old-fas.h.i.+oned goblets, as well as many of modern manufacture, can be covered on the outside with Leather Work. Lilies of the Valley, and other such flowers, being trailed round a groundwork of leaves, and being either gilded or stained, look exceedingly well; and as they are capable of holding water, become really useful as well as ornamental articles for bouquets of flowers.

Fire-screens and scroll work are executed exactly in the same manner, as described in the following pages, for frames. Fire-screens are generally filled with Berlin wool, or some other fancy work. Those who would prefer to have an entire piece of Leather Work, can paint landscapes or flowers upon white leather, using the same medium which is used at the School of Design for body colour painting, mixed with finely powdered colours.

Gold Leather Work looks remarkably well upon a blue or crimson velvet ground, and makes very rich frames, fire screens, &c. When tastefully arranged, the flowers and leaves upon these grounds have a very magnificent appearance.

Amongst the numerous articles which admit of being ornamented with leather, may be enumerated frames, brackets, vases, pole and hand screens, card plates and racks, music and watch stands.

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Revell's Complete Guide to Ornamental Leather Work.

THE MATERIALS.

_The princ.i.p.al Materials required for this work are_--

Basil Leather.

Skiver ditto.

A Bottle of Oak Varnish Stain.

Ditto Spirit Stain.

Ditto Shaw's Liquid Glue.

A Bottle of Stiffening.

A Small Hammer.

A few Brushes.

Some Tacks.

A pair of Nippers.

A Veining Tool.

A few hard Steel Pens.

Bradawl.

Pair of Scissors.

A Leather-cutting Knife.

Grape Moulds.

Ditto for Pa.s.sion Flowers.

Fine Black Lead Pencil.

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LEATHER.

The kind of leather used for general purposes is basil; it should be selected of an even texture and of a light colour, as the lighter coloured basil takes the oak varnish stain better than the dark.

Great care must be taken to select it soft and free from blemishes, as if dark and rough leather is used, the work when finished, even by skilful hands, will not have so good an appearance as the production of much less skilful artists, where good basil leather is used.

The skiver leather is used for making grapes, or very small leaves and flowers, and can be obtained at the same place as the basil leather; this kind is also very useful for thin stems and any minute portion of the work.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE LEAVES.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 1.]

Sketch, either from nature, or from the example annexed, the leaf you intend to copy, upon pasteboard; cut it out very carefully; then place a piece of basil in _cold_ water for half a minute (not longer), unless the leather is unusually thick; the leather should then be taken out of the water, and pressed in a linen cloth until the surface becomes dry.

Being thus prepared, lay it quite flat and place upon it the pasteboard pattern, holding it firmly down with the left hand, while with the right, draw a line round the pattern with a fine hard black lead pencil or the veining tool: while the leather is damp cut out the leaf with a pair of scissors or with the leather-cutting knife, as occasion may require; when smaller or larger leaves are required, a reduced, or enlarged, sketch should be taken, a pattern made of it in pasteboard, and applied in the same manner as described above, cutting out as many leaves as you require, and generally making about four sizes of them, as varying the sizes of the leaves adds much to the beauty of the foliage.

Leaves all the same size would have a very formal appearance, as they must be veined before they are allowed to dry; too much leather must not be wetted at a time, nor more leaves cut out than can be veined. To vein the leaves, mark them with the veining tool on the smooth side of the leather strongly, by pressing heavily on the leaf, where a thick vein is required; and more lightly where only finer ones should be visible; for raised veins employ the end of a fine pair of scissors for the large, and a hard steel pen for the smaller veins. Being veined, the leaves should be bent and moulded as they are to appear upon the work when it is completed: they should then be dried rather quickly, as it greatly a.s.sists in the hardening.

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TO HARDEN THEM.

When the leaves are thoroughly dry, brush them all over, particularly the edges with the prepared stiffening, applying it with a camel's hair pencil, nimbly, as it dries very rapidly, apply it thin and evenly, taking care to cover the edges; when dry, they will be ready for staining.

TO STAIN THEM.