December, 1906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



375 



architect, John of Padua ; with the foundation of the French 

 Renaissance under Louis XII by Fra Giacondo and its de- 

 velopment under Francis I, influenced by Seralio, and also 

 with the best period of Italian Renaissance. 



"Like other arts which have been lost through the changes 

 of time, this was allowed to lapse during the unruly days of 

 the Reformation, for the firebrands of religious warfare left 

 no time for tedious employment." 



With such explanation to account for the early industry, 

 the long lapse, and its very recent revival in this country, it is 

 not surprising that artistic decorations in sculptured leather 

 are so confidently set forth as an entirely new as well as 

 novel decorative scheme. Imported hangings in leather, va- 

 rious objects in the form of screens and furniture coverings, 

 have for some time past been brought to this country from 

 Germany. Yet the revival of this exquisite art is compara- 

 tively new even in Germany, for after the art had remained 



recent introduction in this country rapid strides have been 

 made in having it recognized by an appreciative public. In 

 all large cities throughout the United States the revived art 

 is being established. 



In studying the effect of sculptured leather for the interior 

 decoration of public buildings, no better example could be 

 cited than that of the new State Capitol at Harrisburg. Not 

 only have the sixty-seven seals of Pennsylvania counties been 

 most exquisitely wrought in sculptured leather, but in the 

 Governor's reception room the immense wall surface shows 

 one of the rarest effects in marvelously executed leather sculp- 

 ture in this country — this includes eight enormous panels rep- 

 resenting the eight chief industries of Pennsylvania. 



For home decoration the elaborate designs for wall finish- 

 ings are simply innumerable. The owner of a palatial home, 

 if he possess artistic instinct, endeavors to have all his wall 

 designs characteristic and emblematic. Panels of sculptured 



An Eighteenth Century Chair Covered 



with Italian Embossed 



Leather 



Big Bronze Nails are Used With the 



Leather to Complete the 



Decorative Effect 



An Antique Leather-decorated Chair 



Preserved in Philadelphia's 



Memorial Hall 



lost for centuries it was not until somewhat over two decades 

 ago, from 188 1 to 1883, during the period of tremendous 

 developments in the art industries in Germany that the art 

 of leather sculpture was fully revived. Then travelers 

 abroad became enthusiastic over the beautiful results attained 

 through the medium of leather sculpture for interior decora- 

 tion in many European palaces; and a demand for this art 

 industry was accordingly created in this county. Probably 

 the extreme age of this industry in the United States might 

 be safely placed at ten or fifteen years. It is much more re- 

 cently, however, that the new industry has been established in 

 this country, sufficiently to warrant the branching out that 

 includes the wonderful scope of leather decoration in vogue 

 to-day. 



Philadelphia and New York have taken the lead of 

 American cities in popularizing this art. The first estab- 

 lishment devoted entirely to interior decoration in sculptured 

 leather was established in Philadelphia by a German art stu- 

 dent who found the industry tremendously popular and 

 profitable in Hamburg, and realized, from the demands of 

 American travelers, its certainty of success here. Since its 



leather are set in place to form a continuous design through- 

 out the entire wall surface, the frieze and ceiling continuing 

 the leather scheme in heraldic or conventional flower design. 

 When the sculptured leather of the wall and ceiling decora- 

 tions display intricate detail, the leather chairs and other 

 furnishings are magnificently plain by way of contrast. Fre- 

 quently the greater part of the wall surface of a spacious 

 dining-room or "den" will display rich panelings of choice 

 woods; while the mural decorations in leather will be con- 

 fined to a great depth of elaborate frieze, representing hunt- 

 ing scenes and woody trophies, and field and meadow flow- 

 ers will complete the characteristic finish of the ceiling. 

 When adjoining rooms are finished in the same general de- 

 sign in sculptured leather — with only a change in the hunt- 

 ing scenes or the ceiling effects to give desirable variety — 

 embossed leather hangings are frequently used for the door- 

 way portieres. Another popular decorative idea is found in 

 the three-fold screen showing heraldic designs of some fa- 

 mous hunting scene, set before the doorway, while the top is 

 finished in an artistic arch or curve with the beaded effect of 

 bronzy glowing nails holding the sculptured leather in place. 



