Leather From The Past

The lost cargo of ‘Russia’ Leather.

On the 10^th December 1786 during a ferocious storm, the Danish Brigantine Metta Catharina carrying a cargo of hemp and leather, broke free from her anchor and was sunk just off Drake’s Island in Plymouth Sound.  Although the crew were said to have survived, Catharina’s cargo went down with the ship.

Almost 200 years later in 1973, the wreck was found along with the bundles of hides which had been preserved thanks to the skills of the original tanners in St Petersburg.

The leather, which would have been willow bark pit tanned and then curried with birch oil, has the most beautiful aroma, surface texture and depth of colour.