Two fragmens of a gilt leather panel. Painted in various colours on a grey ground. The full pattern shows five cupids symbolizing the five sences.

Two fragments of a gilt leather panel. The embossed pattern, which is excellent preserved, consists of swags of fruit and flowers, foliage, grapes, pomegranates and other fruit, with a monkey and two cupids, one holding a mirror ('sight'), and the other one smelling a flower ('smelling'). The full pattern show five cupids symbolising the five senses, and was called the' Royaele' plate. Painted in various colours on a grey ground.

Technical analyses:
274-1899 item 13 (five samples): calf, c1mm thick. Size coating on the grain surface (probably parchment size). Silver leaf 0.004mm thick.

It is possible that there are two coats of silver (but this was not verified). A size layer was applied and then silver leaf (untarnished). All the coloured layers were then applied - yellow, green, red, coppery brown and one which may have been a dark red and is now a purplish black. The yellow glaze and the reds and browns all have a bright flourescence indicating a resin content.
Painting: the gold and green are simply laid on as flat washes of colour, but the dark reds and browns are used in a painterly manner to outline petals and shade the fruit. After the colours, the background grey was blocked in.
Pigments: verdigris, dissolved copper green, red and brown lake, lead white, smalt.
The green leaves are all painted with copper green - the light leaves are now pure verdigris, the dark leaves are verdigris almost fully dissolved in oil. The dark green is now opaque but will once have been semi translucent. The reds and browns are organic pigments. The background grey is lead white tinted with a small amount of blue smalt. The addition of the smalt will have been enough to give a cool tint to the grey without making it look an actual blue.
The final varnish is resin based (with indigo).

274a-1899 item 14: calf, 0-.9-1.1mm thick. Size coating on the grain surface (probably parchment size). Silver leaf size: 52 x 54mm.

A Technical investigation into the methods and materials used for gilt leather manufacture from the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (unpublished report, c.1996).
Report prepared by Christopher Calnan, Adviser on Conservation of Organic Materials at the National Trust, London.
Examination of decorative surface carried out by Catherine Hassell, University College, London
Examination of vegetable tannins carried out by Jan Wouters, KIK, Brussels.

Given by H. Thomson Lyon

Given by H. Thomson Lyon (57 Onslow Square, London SW). Accepted on RF 98617/1898, as 'Spanish 17th century'

This panel has been analysed as part of the gilt leather cataloguing project in 1996. Eloy Koldeweij, October 1996.

See also: A Technical investigation into the methods and materials used for gilt leather manufacture from the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (unpublished report, c.1996, held by the FTF Dept.), items 13-14
Report prepared by Christopher Calnan, Adviser on Conservation of Organic Materials at the National Trust, London.
Examination of decorative surface carried out by Catherine Hassell, University College, London
Examination of vegetable tannins carried out by Jan Wouters, KIK, Brussels.

The full design is shown in an engraving with the gilt-leather pattern of the royaele plaat (1075 x 774mm), V&A E.43-1929. This design the royaele plaat was introduced in 1663 or 1664. The size of this pattern, 1075 x 774mm.

See also a wall hanging in the Stedelijk Museum 'De Lakenhal', Leiden; villa Aldobrandini, Frascati (It.). A copied version of the pattern survives on an altar frontal (V&A 728-1890). A mirrored, illegally copied, version of this pattern also exists (see Koldeweij, 1996 p.144).

Production
This panel would have been made using the following method, using vegetable tanned calf skin. A thin layer of silver leaf was used to cover the whole surface, fixed with parchment glue and covered with the same material to prevent oxidizing. One or two layers of yellow varnish (consisting usually of natural resins such as sandarac and asphaltum) were added. The leather (with foil and varnish already attached) was pressed foil-side down into a metal mould. Paints and coloured glazes were then added at this point, according to the the client's wishes, which added to the cost of the finished product.

Gilt-leather hangings were a prestigious and fashionable wall-covering in the Netherlands. The panels were hung as tapestries, or nailed to the woodwork of the room walls, with a slight overlap. In terms of cost, only good quality tapestry was a more expensive way to furnish walls. The three-dimensionality, rich colours and metal foils created a rich and luxurious effect. Gilt leather wall hangings are depicted in Dutch paintings of the period, such as Pieter de Hoogh, A Party with Four Figures, c1663-5 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (inv. no. 1975.1.144), and Pieter de Wit, Portrait of Dirck Wilre, dated 1669, sold Sotheby's London, 6/7/1994, cat. no. 61). Leather panels were also durable, and had practical advantages over textiles in rooms used for dining, as they did not retain the smell of food. Gilt leather was also used as coverings for screens, chairs, mirror-boxes, chests, and cushions, table carpets, altar frontals, chasubles and independent panels to be displayed like pictures.

Manufacture
In the Netherlands calfskin was generally used, which was prepared with tannings based on oak bark, often in combination with 'sumac'. From 1628 in Holland it became possible to mass produce leather with relief patterns, using a technique by which the design was pressed into the leather (with foil and varnished already attached) with the use of a metal mould (usually about 75 x 65cm). Around the middle of the 17th century the usual rectangular size of panel c.75 x 65cm was replaced by longer pieces. The 'gilding' consisted of a layer of silver foil, fixed and covered with parchment glue or albumen. The covered foil was then painted with one or two layers of yellow varnish, which generally consisted of natural resins (sandarac and asphaltum), to give it a golden appearance.

Gilt leather production existed in the Netherlands from at least 1511 when a Malines maker is recorded. Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent were also significant centres. Production in the Northern Netherlands is recorded from 1612, with production established in Amsterdam, The Hague, Dordrecht and Middelburg, through Flemish immigrants. At this stage, 'Spanish type' leather with a flat surface decorated with small stamped motifs. In Amsterdam three major factories and at least seven smaller ones existed. Press-moulded, embossed leather, the hallmark of 17th century Dutch leather, was developed and patented by Jacob Dircxz. de Swart (d.1641), and produced from 1628. The embossed decoration typically includes floral scrolls, birds, insects or auricular motifs. The large scale of production of the larger factories is evidenced by the contract between Hans Le Maire and a French merchant Le Roux in 1627 for the delivery of 16,000 calfskins per year. Le Maire ran a large factory in Amsterdam with at least 50 workers, and supplied leather to the Dutch Stadholder Frederick Henry, the Danish king Christian IV, and Emperor Ferdinand II in Prague, as well as exporting to Germany, Sweden, Poland, Russia, China and Japan. During the second half of the 17th century, flatter patterns with more polychrome decoration became more popular. During the 18th century gilt-leather wall hangings were superceded by painted canvas, oil-cloth and wallpapers.

From the 17th century in the Netherlands, gilt leather could be bought from shops dealing in textiles and wall-hangings. The maker of this panel, Martinus ven den Heuvel used various methods to sell his gilt leather: he advertised in the newspaper the Amsterdamsche Courant, and from 1686 onwards in the Amsterdamsche Beurs-prijscourant, the regularly published pricelist of the Amsterdam commodity exchange. He may also have displayed his gilt-leather patterns in a voorhuis (front of shop). He also sent prints showing the design(s) to potential clients to inform them of the various patterns available, their different finishes and their prices. This is the earliest instance of prints made specifically for a manufacturer to sell and promote his products. (Koldeweij, Print Quarterly 1996, p. 145).

See also:
Eloy Koldeweij et al.: Goud Leer - Kinkarakawa (Zwolle, 1989).
and Galerie Glass: ed. Eloy Koldeweij: Ledertapeten (Essen, 1991).

'Compagnie van Goudleermaken', Amsterdam

Gilt-leather hangings were a prestigious and fashionable wall-covering in 17th century Netherlands. In terms of cost, only good quality tapestry was a more expensive way to furnish walls. The three-dimensionality, rich colours and metal foils created a rich and luxurious effect. Leather was also durable, and had practical advantages over textiles in rooms used for dining, as they did not retain the smell of food. Gilt leather was also used as coverings for screens, chairs, mirror-boxes, chests, and cushions, table carpets, altar frontals, chasubles and independent panels to be displayed like pictures.

274&A-1899