decorated by variously tinting the parts within the lines, if the style of the design will admit of such treatment; an effect similar to leather mosaic is thus produced. (See Chapter III.)
Pyrogravure, or engraving with a hot tool (see p. [36]), gives a very similar effect to that of cut or engraved leather, the only difference in the appearance of the work thus decorated being due to the slight burr of the edges and the darkening of the line caused by the hot tool. This effect of dark colour can, however, be added to cut leather by colouring the lines with a dye applied with a fine brush. In order to prevent the colour penetrating and spreading beyond the lines, the latter should be lightly coated with paste before the dye is applied.
CARVED LEATHER
Great expertness is required in carving leather, that is to say, in producing lines so deep that the design stands out sufficiently from the background to allow of its being ornamented by independent lines less deeply worked.
Some leather cases from the Dijon Museum, which were exhibited at the Petit Palais in Paris in the year 1900, are good examples of carving, and the manner in which they are finished with touches of gold is very characteristic. The style and method of production of these examples may well be imitated. Decoration on ogee-shaped lines is to be avoided, as, however artistically treated, it is apt to bring to mind the stamped leather of the so-called “Cathedral Style,” specimens of which filled the libraries of the romantic period of about 1830.
Besides the tools enumerated above, some artists use the gravers and gouges employed in chasing metal and wood-carving, but a great deal of practice is necessary for their proper handling, and they cannot be recommended to the inexperienced worker.
Pyrogravure is an alternative method of producing strongly accentuated lines, and by the judicious use of punches an infinite variety of interesting background effects can be obtained.
Before leaving the subject of carved leather, mention must be made of cuir bouilli, which was used in conjunction with it during the Middle Ages, chiefly for sheaths and cases, and is now unfortunately a lost art.[3] Mons. de Saint André de Lignereux, in Le Cuir d’Art français, tells us that the leather was boiled with gums and resins obtained from the East, and moulded and cut while still soft from this treatment.[4]
[3] An example of modern English work in leather treated in a somewhat similar manner is given in Plate 15.