11907 IMGR62

THE CENTRES Of FRODUCTION

The łourcr of che gile leathcr is noc menrioned. bul chcre is no rcason co suppotc k wat ochcr chan in London, cspecially bcaring che preecding quocation in mind.

The Musrum of Leachcrcrafć possesses a vcry interesu ng pand (Place 27), uniquc to Qr atu koown, and ccrtainly Englith. Ic mcaaurcs abouc 1.37 x iu>7 m. (54x42 in.), k afptatbotrd suppoctcd byr a massive oak fiame, and has che front coyered wach silvcred Inrfwr on which is painced. for che most part in oilt buc in a few placet wach red glaze through which che saKer tcill glinem, che Royal Armi as borne by che Stuart sovercigm, che Royal Mono and chat of che Order of che Carter; the supporters are a lion rampanc. guardanc. royaOy crowned, and a hornless Unicom rampanc, crined, gorged willi a coroocr and chained. The dale of chis incerescing piece of Englith "eoedwainery* could be aa carły as che beginning of the acvcncccnch ccntury but could not, anyway, be latcr than 16U. Ic was, perhaps, sec up in a church or a nobleman*s hall.

When che attics of Ham Housc, near Richmond in Surrcy, were clcarcd in 195*. ■orne panek of a lich gile leachcr rcsplcndent with cherubi, large flowers and buttetflies emerged. Thcrc was a ko a large pand of the same pattem with wide borders of a different leaagn (Place u). The Luter is perhaps one of the 'leathcr carpets* referred to in the nwneory drawn up in 1679, shortly after the housc had been reconstructcd by the Duke ad Duchem* of Laudcrdalc. The only room listcd chcre as having leathcr hangings is *e 'Marble Dining Room* buc thcrc the hangings are still in situ. An inventory of 1844 fes to a smali room in the Southern end of che housc as the 'Gik leathcr Room* which iggcsts chat, by chcn. k had been hung with che panek chat were latcr fbund in the attic. be panek in gucmtion certainly datę fiom che aeventccmh ccntury — probably fiom the ird quartcr — and are moce likdy to be Dutch chan English. Maybe che Laudcrdales id this leathcr in chcir London house and ic was chen transfćrrcd to Ham latcr. The •callcd ‘leathcr carpct* may be a bed or cable cover, alchough ic is quescionable whether is reerangular pand was originally pliant cnough to fali propcrly ovcr che sades of a piece furniturc. Perhaps ic is rcaliy a pand madę up at somc latcr datę for somc unknown rpose fiom che wali panek. Ac any race, ic is a finc example of Netherlandish leathcr-dc of abouc1670.

The leachcr in che Marble Dining Room ac Ham House (Placcs joa and b) is of a nal laccice pattem dcriving fiom che Islamie cradition — indeed, ic providc* a waming insc che over-hasty dating of gile leathcr fiom che pattem alone. For this leachcr was ig in che 1670*, when che room was bu ile. The two surviving sidc-tablcs in che room had leachcr oovcrs alchough chcy necd noc ncccssarily have been of gile leachcr: they p probably only madę co procect che marble slabs on che cables and would have been ovcd when company was prcscnc. Thcrc is in che Musrum of Leathcrcraft a large s» covcrcd with a leachcr bcaring a simplified yertion of che Marble Dining Room

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