Your Cart is Empty
Leather goods or leather work, a craft for everyday life
Sometimes we buy pieces of craftsmanship as mere decorative elements, pieces that, due to their beauty, become works of art whose only use is contemplation. However, there is a craft that in many cases is part of our daily lives and that sometimes goes unnoticed, we talk about leather goods.
The artisans of Morocco have elevated embossed leather work to levels of excellence that are difficult to surpass. As an example we have the fact that leather work is known as leather goods whose etymological root takes us directly to Morocco.
The origin of leather crafts
If we dig to the bottom of the matter. Leather craftsmanship dates back to prehistory when the first men found the raw material in animal skins to make rough clothing to protect them from the cold. Thus, there is evidence of the existence of leather dresses, bags and sandals, some of which are more than 8,000 years old.
At first, skins with hair were used, but later the primitive artisans discovered that if this was removed they obtained a more versatile product. Between the year 3000 and 5000 BC, tanning and making leather goods took place. By the year 1000 AD, the fur fashion had prevailed throughout the Christian West, including the Iberian Peninsula, as well as in the Arab world of the Near East, North Africa and Muslim Spain.
Leather crafts in Morocco have a name, Fez
The city of Fez offers us a wide range of experiences but without a doubt one of the important and impressive ones is the visit to its Medina and more specifically to the Tanners' Suq. Inheritors of a rich and vast tradition, the tanning artisans of Fez continue to make leather craft pieces just as their ancestors did. Through a set of artisanal techniques they manage to convert pieces of animal skin into soft leather with which to make pieces such as belts, wallets, bags...
The raw skin reaches the medina of Fez. Depending on what its use is going to be, the skin of one animal or another is used, although the most common are lamb, goat, cow and dromedary skins. The skin is then treated with quicklime and pigeon droppings to remove any remains. If you read correctly, pigeon droppings, which are partly to blame for the softness of the leather. It is subsequently air dried while it continues to be worked by the expert hands of Moroccan artisans. In fact, if you are fortunate enough to visit the medina of Fez you will be able to see how the leather plates flutter on the roofs of all the houses so that the wind can do its work.
But without a doubt, what makes the leather craftsmanship from Morocco unique is the use of natural dyes. Despite continuous advances and the growing existence of artificial products, Moroccan artisans continue to use natural dyes to color their pieces. This process is carried out in stone vats that have become a first-class tourist attraction. In them natural colorants to obtain a wide range of tones: Mint for green. Poppy for red. Saffron for yellow.
The leather is introduced into these pools for several days depending on the intensity of the dye and other parameters that the master tanners know perfectly. Meanwhile, the craftsmen work inside these large stone vats, reviewing the process, tamping, rubbing, an arduous task that is carried out in full sun and with a mixture of “aromas” that is difficult to describe.
Once this process is completed, we obtain sheets of excellent Moroccan leather ready to be used in the production of the most varied crafts. Pieces that of course can be found on our website with the guarantee of being able to enjoy a unique piece.
Information and wholesale orders:
Email: info@decoracionalcazaba.com
Telephones: 697431100 / 958468377
Web: www.decoracionalcazaba.com
Follow us on Social Networks
