Georges De Recy

Georges De Recy wrote a practical French study of decorative leatherwork in the opening years of the twentieth century. The Decoration of Leather is Maude Nathan’s English translation, published in London by Archibald Constable in 1905. It combines a historical introduction with instruction on tools, leather selection, incised and modeled work, mosaic, dyes, patines, gilding, design, and color. Nathan explained that the English text was abridged and adapted because some French technical terms lacked exact equivalents, while examples from British collections replaced part of the original illustration program. The Decoration of Leather therefore records both De Recy’s methods and the choices made in carrying them into another craft tradition. The earlier French edition, Décoration du cuir, contained a larger set of models for boxes, bindings, cases, panels, and furnishings. De Recy’s approach treats leather as an artistic material with its own demands, connecting workshop procedure to historical ornament rather than presenting decoration as a set of isolated patterns.