Leather Products from B.C.E.! Visiting National Leather Collection in Northampton - Collection of 10,000+ Items
On the third day of our British Made Tour held last Autumn, we visited the National Leather Collection in Northampton.
Walking from the Northampton Art Gallery, which is going through a renovation, through the market place and you'll find the National Leather Collection, which has a collection of 10,000+ various leather items, some of them date all the way back to 40,000 years ago. We enjoyed the tour especially made for us by the administrators of the Collection, Michael and Deborah.
Deborah, who also has her own leather brand, Doe Leather.
Michael, who was running a leather tanning factory, founded by Deborah's great-grand father, William Pearce
The picture is of the model of the leather tanning factory.
Northampton, also called Shoe Mecca, is blessed with rich groundwater as well. There used to be over fifteen tanning factories, which had been one of the main industries of the city from the early 1900s for 100 years, but in the early 2000s, the last factory closed.Sadly enough, we cannot see those tanning factories anymore.
Phipps Brewery, another place we visited during the British Made Tour, is the oldest existing brewery in Northampton. The building originally used to be a tanning factory, too.
After learning about the history of Northampton, we got introduced to some of the enormous collection items.
National Leather Collection is now preparing for its opening to the public. You'll see it crammed with various leather items from many genres.
Vase and boxes made of made of leather. It can be seen that leather products last eternally.
Gloves with delicate embroidery from 17th century; they don't look like something that's more than 400 years old.
Leather underwear! Long time ago, leather products were not expensive luxuries and they used the material for underwear. Given that noble people were wearing linen underwear, it wasn't really comfortable...?!
A bag, or a map case which is thought to be used by a Japanese soldier during WWII?. Inside are Japanese bills and a note with Japanese words on it.
The collection tour was ended with a gift from Deborah to everyone that joined the British Made Tour. Her own brand, Doe Leather's Key Lanyard!
We've found about the National Leather Collection through the British Made Tour this time; we could see various historical items closely and feel them with our hands when they would have been in a showcase if it had been a normal museum. What a precious experience it was.