Alligator:- Alligator, crocodile and related types are mostly vegetable-tanned and finished in a variety of colours. They are not easy to obtain and are expensive. Mock varieties are freely available, made from embossed cowhide, and virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.  All the reptiles are produced in great varieties. Water snakes and small python make excellent belts. Chameleons, lizards, toads and frogs, though small, are used for small fancy goods. Their granulated grain has a beauty with which few other leathers can compare.

Aluta:- Roman name for tawed (alum tanned) leather. Aluta was used for sails in Venice, and for shoe uppers in ancient Greece.

Amazonica Crackle:- A full grain buffalo with a combination of oil/wax. This tanning method creates a soft waxy finish, providing a pull-up effect with a more dressy than casual appearance. It has a little sheen to it.

Aniline Leather:- Leather which retains its colour only from dyestuffs rather than from pigment, and as a consequence looks more natural.

Bag leather:- A form of vegetable tannage in which the skins are sewn together in pairs to form bags and floated in tan liquor. This method avoids drawn grain and gives good spread of leather.

Basil:- Bark tanned pickled sheepskins.

Bating:- The process prior to tanning proper where the fibres of a hide or skin which have been plumped or swollen by liming are reduced and softened, thus assuring pliability in the product. The word is a form of "abate" in the sense of reduce.

Bougie leather:- Leather from the town of Bougie in North east Algeria. Famous in the fifteenth century.

Bovine:- Cow, ox, steer, bull, buffalo or closely related animal. Axilla: Thin stretchy areas between the legs — usually has a coarser grain pattern.

Buckskin:- Deer and elk skins, having the outer grain removed. Sometimes also cowhide. Though it might be tempting to think that the name comes from buck, a male deer, the name buckskin comes from the alkali soaking process, called bucking. Strictly speaking, this is oil-tanned frized (in some leathers the grain is partially removed by abrasion, a process called "frizing" or buffing) grain leather.

Bullhide:- Hide from a male bovine animal that was capable of reproduction, about 70 sq ft.

Cabretta:- A hair type sheepskin, typically from Brazil. (Any variety of sheep growing hair instead of wool. They yield hides with a finer and tougher grain than those of wool sheep). When the Portuguese first went to Brazil they mistook the indigenous hair sheep for goats and called them cabrettas (kids). The skins were exported to the USA by the Blue Funnel Line (later the Booth Group) and the name cabretta stayed with them. Now all hair sheep skins have taken the generic name cabretta. The acknowledged superior material for gloving and soft shoe leather it also comes from Ethiopia and other sub-tropical regions. This material offers all the features required, its thin tough structure giving it strength and maximum flexibility, it is hard wearing and comfortable. Finished on the grain or flesh side. Soft, but has less "body" than sheep. This is very soft and stretchy.

Calfskin:- The skin from a young bovine, male or female, about 9 months old, fine grain, smooth surface, durable. Also Boxcalf:- This normally refers to black calf, chrome-tanned, boarded in two directions. (Boarding by the way, is the process of folding a leather grain to grain and working the fold across the leather to crease and enhance the natural grain.) Willow calf:- This is brown or coloured and willow bark was originally used for its tanning. Hunting calf:- Suede upper leather with the suede on the flesh side, made from a larger calf skin or from a veal. Somewhat coarser than suede calf. Reverse calf:- Water-resistant suede calf leather finished on the flesh side.

California Banknotes:- In "Two Years Before the Mast" Richard Henry Dana describes how he sailed from Boston to California in 1834 to collect hides. He also explains how the hides are dried and loaded onto the ships before returning to the East Coast. Since California had nothing else of wealth at that time the dried hides were known as "California Banknotes".

"The hides are brought down dry, or they will not be received. When taken from the animal they have holes cut in the ends, and are staked out, and thus dried in the sun without shrinking. They are then doubled once, lengthwise, with the hair side usually in, and sent down upon mules or in carts, and piled above high-water mark: and then we take them upon our heads, one at a time, or two, if they are small, and wade out with them and throw them into the boat."

Carding Leather:- A special type of side leather used on the cards of cotton machinery. The leather lies flat against the beds of the cards, the teeth being forced through.

Carpincho:- The water rodent of Brazil. The skin as a leather has excellent stretch and is soft but hard wearing. A distinguishing feature is the hair-holes which are in groups of three to seven.

It is the biggest rodent inhabiting several regions of South America. It is very similar to a pig, having the same stiff, rather bristly hair and general body shape. It lives on the banks of rivers, lakes and swamps. They splash into the water when any danger threatens them. They are coveted by tigers and hunters, the latter not only want its meat but also the skin as there is a market for it. The main characteristics of these animals are a regular head, small ears, short neck, round, small eyes, a round snout, short legs and short big teeth. It does not have a tail and it eats vegetable matter.

Cattle Hide:- In the strictest sense, any leather made from the hide of a mature bovine animal is cattle hide. It is used as a general term for hides before tanning.

Chamois leather:- A soft leather originally made from the skins of the Alpine antelope known as the chamois but at the present time from the fleshers of sheepskins. Certain grades were used in gloves and fancy articles but its usual employment is for cleaning and polishing, primarily automobiles.  Chamois is characterised by its ability to absorb at least three times its own weight of water.

Cheverel, Cheveril:- A soft, flexible, kidskin leather, a leather which stretched easily.

Chicken/Hen Leather:- As improbable as chicken leather sounds it's as thick as emu leather and can be used to make a range of items from souvenirs to shoes. Chicken/hen skin provides a versatile and elegant skin for exotic leather products such as watch bands, belts, wallets, etc. Hen leather is beautiful and durable. Chicken skins are used to make luxury goods in some of the richest countries in the world.

Coated Leather:- This is a fairly recent development using split leather. It is produced from the lower split by first melting a type of glue on the surface, then rolling on a film of coloured polyurethane. It's normally produced in darker colours, and when stretched, it lightens. Its quality varies and it's also easily scratched. This type of leather is now being used to make furniture although it has been used to make handbags and belts for a while.

Combination leather:- Leather tanned by two or more tanning agents, e.g. chrome followed by vegetable (chrome re-tan), vegetable followed by chrome (semi-chrome), formaldehyde followed by oil (combination oil).

Cordovan:- Originally applied to a specific type of white leather from the Spanish town of Cordoba, in the 8th century, which was also dyed red and later gilded. Generally today, is from a section of a horse hide, called the shell;  the bit behind the saddle, the crup, often tanned with a sulphur tannage. As such it was a soft vegetable tanned leather and followed by goat, sheep and pigskin leathers with a similar formula. Cordovan leather has good wearing characteristics, and is non porous. The horse product still tends to be called "shell cordoban leather".

Cordovan leather:- Developed in Spain in the 8th century, when the Moors arrived in Spain. Made from the skin of the mouflon (Ovis Musimom). Also known as: muflone (Italian), Corsican mouflon, European mouflon, musimon, musmon, Sardinian mouflon. It is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern sheep breeds. It is red-brown with a dark back-stripe, light coloured saddle patch and underparts. The males are horned and the females are horned or polled. It is now rare but has been successfully introduced into central Europe, including Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovak Republics, and Romania. Originally this hair sheep only survived in Corsica and Sardinia. It was tanned with alum and later with alum and sumac. Best brilliant scarlet type was tawed with alum and dyed with kermes (Quercus coccifera).

Cowhide:- Hide from a mature female bovine that has had a calf, but loosely synonymous with the hide of any mature bovine. If one talks simply about "hide" or "cowhide" it is understood to mean stiffish natural vegetable-tanned cowhide suitable for tooling, for example, not the thin flexible kind used for garment making.

Cuir Bouilli:- (kweer-boo-ee) One really cool thing you can do with bark tanned skins is known as "cuir bouilli", meaning boiled leather. The boiling makes the leather become hard and brittle, giving it some resemblance to the properties of wood. However, since the leather remains flexible and stretchable for a brief period after boiling, forming it to the needs of the armourer is simple. Thus it's a cheap, light and convenient alternative to bronze and other historical materials. Here's a description from R. Reed's Ancient Skins, Parchments, and Leathers:

Curried leather:- Leather, usually vegetable tanned, which has been subjected to currying, i.e. a series of dressing and finishing processes applied to it after tanning, during which, appropriate amounts of oils and greases are incorporated giving it increased tensile strength, flexibility and water-resistance.

Doeskin:- Nothing to do with does! It's from sheep or lamb skins, as an aldehyde tanned flesh split, usually with the grain removed. Very fine nap. Most often white or cream in colour.

Dogskin:- A trade name for selected best-quality English sheepskin, is a soft, lovely leather, which is very durable. It comes in pastel shades, among others, and is hard-wearing in the natural or darker tones.

Dongola tannage:- This gave the first successful water-stable leathers. Since Egyptian times there was alum tanning which was soft, but had no resistance to water, and vegetable tanning which was more resistant, but was very hard. A vegetable and alum tannage was developed in Gloversville, New York, in the 1860's to compete with the expensive kid tannage for gloves. Dongola is a town in the Sudan, and there is a breed of hair sheep named after it. Dongola tannage strictly speaking is alum, salt and gambier only, used together in one solution. Dongola is especially applied to glazed and dull kid. For full dongola the process is commenced in very weak gambier liquor, with the full proportion of alum and salt, and the gambier is gradually strengthened. Dull dongola is ironed like kid in the finish. It is said, sometimes, to be glazed with a blood seasoning, and then dulled by a mixture of soap and oil, followed by slating with a smooth round-edged slicker, but it is generally sized.

The combination tannage of gambier, alum, and salt can also be applied in the following manner: The bated and washed skins are placed in gambier liquor in a paddle. From 3 to 5lb. of gambier are used for one dozen skins. After they have started to absorb the gambier, from 8 to 16 oz. of alum and 8 oz. of salt are added to the liquor, for each dozen skins, and the paddling is continued until the tannage is complete, which takes 18 to 36 hours. The leather is then washed in warm water to remove the adhering tan, next fat-liquored with acid fat-liquor, dried, wet-back, coloured, dried again, and finished. After the alum and salt have been added it is customary to put the skins, together with the tanning liquor, into a drum and run them for a few hours or until thoroughly tanned. Some soluble oil may also be added to the liquor and applied to the leather toward the end of the tanning process.

Excellent leather is also made by taking the skins out of the gambier liquor when they are well struck through, striking them out and then drumming them with a paste of water, flour, alum, salt, and either egg-yoke or soluble oil, drying and then colouring them with a basic dye and titanium-potassium oxalate. The colour of the leather can be modified by adding a solution of fustic or other dyewood to the gambier liquor, and the entire process may be reversed. The skins may be first drummed with alum and salt and then tanned with gambier. Heavy skins may be tanned with gambier, alum, and salt. After the leather is dry, it can be coloured with acid or basic dyes: and, if not fat-liquored immediately after tanning, drummed with acid fat-liquor or with an emulsion of oil and soap, staked and finished.

Elk:- A trade term for cattlehide shoe leather of special tannage and finish. Genuine elk leather is made into one of several types of buckskins.

Entrefino:- Type of Spanish lambskin used for top quality leather and shearling products. Characterized by lightweight and fine leather side, and straight and glossy, wool/fur side. 

Fish skin:- Fish tanning begins by collecting the skins from the commercial fish processors. When the skins arrive, they usually have traces of flesh left on them. The flesh is removed manually with a knife on a wooden block.

After the flesh is removed, the scales need to come off, so the skins are put into drums with a special fluid that puffs them slightly. This process helps the scales fall away without damaging the skins.

The tanning process turns raw hide (in this case fish skin) and turns it into leather using chemicals. The chemical processes allow a preservative to enter the skin, taking about five weeks. After this is finished the fish no longer has a fish odour.

Even if the fish was colourful in life, after it dies the natural skin becomes beige or grey and must be dyed to give it colour again. Soaking the skins with vegetable dyes enhances them and forms a glaze or shiny finish in a bright hue while the chrome process of dyeing the skins gives the hides the feel of suede and subdues the colour. These dyes are colourfast and light fast which means that the colours won’t fade over time.

After the skins are coloured, the leathers are then softened and dried and then softened with oils again. Once the leather is dry, the skins are softened again. Any stray fibres on the underside of the skin are removed with either a hand breaker or a dry tumble machine. The leather must be very smooth and thin before it is made into the final product.

The leather at this stage can be either suede or crust leather. It is not very resistant to water and other stains so care must be taken to choose uses where it is not exposed to a lot of wear and tear. Crust leather is able to withstand hand washing and can also be ironed on a low heat.

If the leather is to be used in a tough situation (such as shoes) it must be refinished. Refinishing leather is a very specialised trade and it takes three years to learn how to do it properly. At the end of the special process the leather becomes water resistant and stain resistant to such things as egg yolk, red wine and even engine oil. The grain (or pattern) on the skin is also protected and the fibres are now dry-cleanable.

Fish leather is an example of adding value to what was previously a waste product.

Final uses for fish leather include clothing such as shoes, hats, vests, pens, wallets, purses, belts, buttons, earrings and polish cloths for wood and gemstones.

Skin Sizes
Sizes are rough measurements, all the skins taper and the measurements are taken from full length and just above the middle of the full width.
Salmon: 23" long x 5" wide, thickness 0·8 mm – 1·3 mm
Carp: 18" long x 4" wide, thickness 1 mm – 1·5 mm
Perch: 18" long x 6" wide, thickness 1·5 – 2·2 mm