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Why Leather?

Why Leather?

The Material and Cultural Dimensions of Leather

by Andre J. Veldmeijer and Susanna Harris
Paperback
Publication Date: 16/09/2014

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$35.00
This pioneering volume brings together specialists from contemporary craft and industry and from archaeology to examine both the material properties and the cultural dimensions of leather. The common occurrence of animal skin products through time, whether vegetable tanned leather, parchment, vellum, fat-cured skins or rawhide attest to its enduring versatility, utility and desirability. Typically grouped together as 'leather', the versatility of these materials is remarkable: they can be soft and supple like a textile, firm and rigid like a basket, or hard and watertight like a pot or gourd. This volume challenges a simple utilitarian or functional approach to leather; in a world of technological and material choices, leather is appropriated according to its suitability on many levels. In addressing the question Why leather? authors of this volume present new perspectives on the material and cultural dimensions of leather.
Their wide-ranging research includes the microscopic examination of skin structure and its influence on behaviour, experiments on medieval cuir bouilli armour, the guild secrets behind the leather components of nineteenth-century industrial machinery, new research on ancient Egyptian chariot leather, the relationship between wine and wineskins, and the making of contemporary leather wall covering.
ISBN:
9789088902611
9789088902611
Category:
Textile artworks
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
16-09-2014
Publisher:
Sidestone Press
Country of origin:
Netherlands
Pages:
135
Dimensions (mm):
251x175x13mm
Weight:
0.26kg
Susanna Harris

Susanna Harris is Lecturer in Archaeology at the School of Humanities, University of Glasgow. She completed her PhD at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Harris specialises in the technical, scientific and experimental analysis of archaeological textiles and material culture. She currently leads the fibre and fabric analysis of Must Farm, Bronze Age pile-dwelling settlement and is co-investigator of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project, 'Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard'.

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