Vegetable Tanned, Hand Embossed Leather
Embossed leather products are made using vegetable tanned goatskin leather. Every piece is embossed using a metal die, after which it is individually painted by hand using spirit colors. Each product is then constructed by hand. The craft person’s meticulous eye for detail makes every product unique. As the leather is used, the colors become deeper and the leather softer until it becomes an integral part of your life.
Examples of Embossed Leather
A Specialty of West Bengal Since the 1940's
Embossed leather work on goatskin has been a specialty of West Bengal since 1940’s. It is said that it was Rabindranath Tagore’s daughter-in-law who brought this legendary art of embossing to Bengal from Java. It was in the 1980’s, Sasha revived this craft unique to Shantiniketan and helped disseminate the skill other parts of Bengal.
It was Sasha’s sustained effort in design & product development, technical and skill up-gradation, quality control and, most importantly, vigorous promotion & marketing drive that expanded the scope of this craft and created greater employment opportunities for the goatskin.
Production Process
Vegetable-tanned leather is the only form of leather suitable for use in leather embossing or stamping. It is tanned using tannin and other ingredients found in vegetable matter, such as tree bark prepared in bark mills, and other such sources. It is supple and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of chemicals and the colour of the skin.
In the embossing process used in Bengal, first the leather is washed to remove all traces of salt. Usually sheepskin is used, and is bought from the old Chinese tanneries in Kolkata. The pieces of leather are dried by hanging on a line and then stretched on the ground to give an even flat surface and maximize the work area.
The leather is then cut into the shapes required, using a cardboard pattern. These patterns are normally strung together and hung on the wall. When used, the outline is first marked, and then cut using a pair of scissors or a chisel.
Each piece is then passed through a skiving machine. This thins down the edges so that they can be pasted down, folded or stitched. Earlier this was done by hand using a chisel, which called for great skill. Today the skiving machine gives perfectly even edges.
To emboss the leather piece, a die is used. The moistened leather is placed on the die and the heavy, manually operated iron press is spun down to make the imprint.
Next, the embossed leather is colored. The raised portions are colored using the simplest brush - a piece of rag wound over a stick. Spirit colors are used. The depressed areas remain un-colored. In some patterns, several colors are used. Larger areas are spray painted using a simple mouth spray.
The next stage is fabrication where the leather is stitched or pasted on to board, to construct a purse, box or bag. Fabric is often used for lining. This stage calls for very skilled and careful working as the glue used can stain and spoil the piece.
Accessories like buttons are added last. The pieces are each finished with careful touching up. A lacquer finish is added in certain cases.
Tools: Scissors, Chisels
