V 
Wrought Leather 
THE HALL OF THE LATE HENRY G. MARQUAND’s HOUSE 
The TV alls hung with Fifteenth Century Leather found in an Old Palace in the Italian Tyrol 
who has made exhaustive researches in the 
methods of the old work, no gold whatever 
was used in the whole process of making, 
and this accounts for the mellowing and 
deepening of the color which age brings to 
the varnish, imparting a softness and rich¬ 
ness that can arrive in no other way. 
One of the greatest disadvantages under 
which the leather worker of today labors is 
in the extreme difficulty of getting properly 
tanned hides. The old methods are gone, 
and the modern quick chemical tannage, 
while admirable for some purposes, is too 
tricky for permanent use. In her work 
Mrs. Dennett found that the India tanned 
goat skins came nearest to the leather used 
by the old workmen, as the ancient method 
of tannage is still used in India. Cowhide 
and calfskin she declares are almost worth¬ 
less for purposes of handicraft. Goat skin is 
still the safest, strongest and most enduring. 
In America, too, the uneven temperature 
of the houses causes the leather to swell and 
to hang loose from the dampness in sum¬ 
mer, though the furnace heat in winter 
usually tightens it again. 
The work of Mrs. Mary Ware Dennett is 
notable in being a conscientious reproduc¬ 
tion of the old methods based upon years 
of study both in this country and abroad. 
Her sister, Clara Ware, is associated with 
her in the work. They have produced very 
beautiful results and their experience and 
research have given them an advance by 
which others may profit in the future of the 
art’s revival. 
Mr. Yandell, of New York, has done 
much valuable work in reproducing from 
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