Stingray & Parchment Craftsmanship, Samples, Techniques, Care Instructions

The Art of CraftsmanshipCraftsmanship is the hallmark of all DK Home products. And the hallmark of fine craftsmanship is the mark of the artisan’s hand. What machines render perfectly, an artisan renders imperfectly. It is this signature ‘imperfection’ that renders each and every product – created exclusively for you by DK Home – unique. Therefore variation between similar objects is to be expected. Sizes are approximate and colours can vary as well.

DK Home takes great care in selecting the best materials available from around the world. Quality is as important a criteria as preserving the environment and contributing to the wellness of the local community. DK Home complies with all international regulations.

Stingray The word ‘shagreen’ originates from the French chagrin, originally defined as ‘rough and granular skin employed to rub, polish, file’. By the turn of the 17th century, the term was applied to shark- and stingray skin. Both species have closely set calcified scales, which, when dried, ground and polished, become the naturally textured skin known as shagreen. It is coincidence really, that this highly prized leather was traditionally dyed green.

Stingrays, those ‘winged phantoms of the deep’, have captured the mind and imagination for centuries. Some species have backbones as unique as fingerprints, resembling a string of pearls, once thought to bring good luck and prosperity to the bearer. Egyptians prized stingray skin for its singular beauty and durability, fashioning armor and decorative items.

Stingrays populate the shallow coastal waters of temperate seas along the Pacific Rim. Their remarkably durable, multi-patterned and colored skin – commonly reflecting the shading of the sea floor – is among the finest ma-terial used in the decorative arts. Hard and granular when dried, the skin is ground down leaving a roughened but no longer sharp surface, with rounded pale protrusions. The tanning process makes the skin soft and pliable without compromising its incredible durability. Once polished, shagreen’s unique surfa-ce texture captures and plays with light.

A master leatherworker in the court of Louis XV, by the name of Jean-Claude Galuchat, first popularized the use of stingray leather, using it as veneer on a variety of items including sheaths, wig cases, perfume flacons, sewing and snuff boxes. In France the material was named after him, Galuchat. But it was the English artisan John Paul Cooper who, in the late 1800s, early 1900s, elevated this exotic leather to the status of luxury material. Cooper designed and produced hundreds of unique artifacts – elaborate boxes, vases, candle sticks, knife boxes, canteens, clocks, small pocket and presentation cases, toilet sets, mirrors, pouchettes, frames. He combined shagreen with other materials, most notably sterling silver. Many of Cooper’s finest pieces are preserved in museum collections, the prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum principal among them.

The artisan John Paul Cooper wrote ’shagreen is a material possessing some of the qualities of both mother of pearl and leather. ’ The qualities for which this fine leather is valued are also what make it so difficult to work with. Its combination of extreme hardness and elastic softness requires great patience and skill during each of the painstaking steps necessary to produce a flawless end product.

S7013 Cemani wood

Stingray Stingray in various colours

Vase round turquoise stingrayArt. No.: 703332

S2067 Eggshell patternS3034 Stingray antique S3039 Stingray grey

S3048 Stingray water grey S3046 Stingray tabac

7

StingrayWith a gold or silver wash

Box round, ultra violet and antique silver stingrayArt. No.: 703337

S3135 Stingray antique & silver leaf wash

S3136 Stingray light blue grey & silver leaf wash

S3137 Stingray black & silver leaf wash

S3139 Stingray antique & gold leaf wash

Parchment

Parchment is a thin material made from hide; useally from calf-, sheep- or goatskin and often split. Its most common use was as a material to write on, for documents and notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. The distinction between leather and parchment is that parchment is limed and not tanned; therefore, it is very reactive to changes in relative humidity and is not waterproof. Finer-quality parchment is called vellum.

Parchment was developed in Pergamon, from which it is believed the word “parchment” evolved, as a substitute for papyrus.

Parchment is prepared from pelt, simply by drying at ordinary temperatures under tension, most commonly on a wooden frame known as a stretching frame.

After being flayed, the skin is soaked in water for about one day. This cleans the skin and prepares it for a dehairing liquor. After soaking in water to make the skins workable, the skins are placed on a stretching frame. A simple frame with nails would work well in stretching the skins. The skins are attached by wrapping small, smooth rocks in the skins with rope or leather strips. Both sides are left open to the air so they can be scraped with a sharp, se-mi-lunar knife to remove the last of the hair and get the skin to the right thick-ness. The skins, which are made almost entirely of collagen, form a natural glue while drying and once taken off the frame they keep their form. The stretching alignes the fibres to be more nearly parallel to the surface.

To make the parchment more aesthetically pleasing or more suitable for the scribes, special treatments are used. Rubbing pumice powder into the flesh side of parchment while it was still wet on the frame was used to make it smooth and to modify the surface to enable inks to penetrate more deeply. Powders and pastes of calcium compounds were also used to help remove grease so the ink would not run. To make the parchment smooth and white, thin pastes of lime, flour, egg whites and milk were rubbed into the skins. Parchment is not always white. A 15th century craftsman provided recipes to tint parchment a variety of colours including purple, indigo, green, red and peach.

The Art of Craftsmanship

S3031 Parchment dark grey S3150 Parchment light ebony black

S3078 Parchment elephant grey S3151 Parchment light coffee brown

S7013 Cemani wood

Parchment

Dresser parchment & ebony veneer Art. No.: 703322

Parchment in various colours

Stingray & ParchmentStingray and parchment in combination with bone, ebony, stone, snake and shell.

Table blocks tabac stingray, ebony, water grey and dark grey parchment and stainless steel Art. No.: 703278 S3145 Parchment water grey,

silver leaf antique stingrayS3144 Parchment water grey, black mother of pearl cracking

S3148 Stingray, silver leaf antique stingray, parchment, cabibe cracking

S3143 Stingray, cabibe cracking, parchment, silver leaf antique stingray

Care instructionsGeneral care

Gently dust with a soft white cotton cloth. Do not use any chemicals or liquid to clean.

StingrayStingray is very sensitive to oil, grease and all fur ther types of liquids.

In case of spilling, damp immediately with a soft sponge or white cotton cloth until the stain is fully dry. Do not use any chemicals or liquid to clean.

If the stain has penetrated into the skin, the stain can no longer be removed. Oil, perfume and grease stains cannot be removed so avoid proximity of these to the skin.

ParchmentThe parchment used for inlay is protected with varnish and therefore less sensitive. But please

avoid exposing it to water or other liquids as much as possible. In case of spilling, damp immediately with a soft sponge or white cotton cloth until the stain is fully dry.

Do not use any chemicals or liquid to clean.In case of scratches, the surface may be buffed with car polish and a buffing cloth.

www.dkhome.com