Do you know when and where the technique of processing leather into a garment was first discovered?

In recorded history, leather products were discovered since 1300 BC in Africa, more precisely Egypt. Primitive people from various parts of the world, especially Europe, Asia, and North America competing to develop techniques to change animal skins into leather goods independently.

First began with the Greeks who started using leather garments during the time of the Homeric heroes (around 1200 BC), the use of leather from that time began to spread throughout the Roman empire. During the Middle Age, the ethnic Chinese found the way how to make it. The Indians in North America also showed great ability in making leather even before the arrival of white people.

“Leather tanning is without doubt a part of primitive human activity.”

Initially, the skin obtained from hunting activities was only used for making clothes and tents, but they felt too cold when temperatures were low and felt too hot when the temperatures were high. At that time, they have an idea to rub animal fats, the first roughest tanning process as mentioned in Assyrian and Homers. With trial and error, they finally found ways to preserve and produce animal skin with some objects such as: smoke, oil, and bark extract.

Leather tanning using bark extract may have first come from the Hebrews. During Middle Age, the art of leather tanning was an art that was kept secret and passed down through generations, even there was a trading community specifically made for leather (Leather Trade Guild).

In the 19^th century, vegetable tanning, for example, used wood extracts from several types of trees which were supplemented by Chrome tanning. The use of chemicals like this until now dominates the tanning process around 80 – 90 %, except leather for shoe soles or tooling leathers.

Then how was the skin marketed at that time?

Well, the most economical way at that time was to buy directly from tannery. Leather is usually valued per square meter and sold as a whole, usually around ¼ square feet which is used as a benchmark of universal size in the tannery world at that time.

The skin that will be obtained from each tannery will vary according to the intention and where the skin obtained. One thing to remember – skin comes from animals and has traveled through various processes so that it becomes finished skin, not synthetic material.

Therefore, the exact size and shape matches the size and shape of the animal according to what is received by tannery. For ease of the tanning process, large animals will be cut into several parts such as the sides, shoulders, stomach, etc. While the skin of small animals such as goats or reptiles will go through the tanning process and be sold according to their original size. Some leather is sometimes cut in various forms according to the wishes of the buyer, but the price will be more expensive because of the additional labor costs and the cost of the remaining wasted.