On a local excursion, I visited an old friend of mine, Olaug, who at 88 still makes the most beautiful stamped and gilded leather.
Transferring the pattern:
Wetting the leather with water, piece by piece, and stamping the pattern into it:
She uses leather from ox:
When she is done stamping, she adds a paste of a golden medium, then a layer of leaf gold, and then paints it with oil-color. Finally, after it is dry, she uses a matte varnish to seal it. Below are some of her work:
Above is part of a chair. Below is part of a stola worn by a catholic priest.
Some of the patterns are really fun and cheerful!
Her husband fixes and repairs old chairs, bought second-hand or at antiqueshops.
And together they make beautiful art!
It takes quite a long time to make, so the chairs are relatively expensive. But when you look at it, and think of all the hours put into it, not to mention it is uniquely handcrafted, it´s actually a bargain for a treasure.