"I have never had a reaction like this", said Tortie. "I have been shocked by the interest. With all of my furniture I have used the process of forming leather to dictate the piece. It was not until I came across the French medieval process of boiled leather that I could create solid, strong forms in an eco-friendly way. "
Uh, Brooks leather bicycle seats in England, and Ideale leather bicycle seats in France, to name just two of many manufacturers, made their seats for most of the 20th Century out of a "boiled leather" process.
Brooks, after being bought out by an Italian bicycle seat maker, has resumed making traditional boiled leather bicycle seats.
Note: if Brooks bicycle seats are any indication, to maintain Tortie Hoare's boiled leather furniture, one should not use conventional leather oils for conventional leather oils will turn the stiff, formed boiled leather into a saggy mass of hide. Brooks always recommended using its own brand of conditioner/saddle dressing called Proofide. Proofide is/was a wax based substance. It needs to be applied only a few times a year to keep the leather supple but not saggy.
Wax based dressings are exactly what you are not supposed to use on non-boiled leather, because it clogs up the pores of the leather and so seals out deep penetration of the oil. But in boiled leather that is formed to a desired shape, a wax based dressing keeps the surface of the product supple, but also plugs up the pores of the boiled leather so that it does not become soft and pliable.
She's young and was excited, ...
She's young and was excited, forgiveable I think. What could have been quite an elegant walnut (?) desk has been wrecked with the addition of that bit of cow though.
I much prefer her work without the novelty of the leather, very restrained and that it was she should have been recognised for.
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