Arte&Cuoio: in search of real leather, real Italian vegetable-tanned hide.
Appealing to the senses of sight, smell and touch, the distinctive nature of leather makes it
important to seek out top quality raw materials.
The choice of full grain hide (primo fiore), the outer and most precious part of the hide, has
led us to areas of Tuscany that lie between Florence and Pisa, Santa Croce on the river Arno
and Ponte a Egola, where traditionally they work on raw hides which have, in turn, been
imported from Germany, Holland, France and Switzerland.
Such top quality leather bears the markings (veins and scars) that clearly show its natural
origins whilst, at the same time, making each piece unique in both its patterning and patina.
The hides are treated using traditional techniques, with tallow (an animal fat) and tannins
extracted from the barks and trunks of many trees (such as mimosa, chestnut,..: which is why
the process is known as "vegetable tanning"). The hide is dipped several times into different
wooden casks; then it is air dried and dyed with a gentle procedure using only natural colours,
and, after it is drawn and thinned over steel and wooden rollers in a process known as
"palmellatura" it is then softened with the fine oils and animal fats using a special
broad-stripped cloth mop known as a "fiocco". The final process is leather polishing,
which again uses traditional methods, with wooden and glass tools, guided by the hands
of skilled craftsmen.
This whole process can take up to several weeks which is why it tends to be known
as "slow tanning", it is this method that gives leather its famously strong scent.
> > >