Via Freshome: Boiled Leather Stools – Simon Hasan
Medieval knights and soldiers once wore boiled leather or cuir bouilli armor. Thick leather was boiled in water,oil or wax. The treated leather remained soft enough for it to be molded into various shapes. The hardened leather with a wood-like consistency provided some protection against bludgeoning blows. It was used as scale armour or in cuisses or greaves – thigh and shin guards.
Well, today we have far nastier and efficient ways of killing so boiled leather armor only exists in medieval reenactments and museums. But the art of boiled leather has now been cleverly applied for more peaceful purposes by Simon Hasan, an industrial designer. He produced a range of boiled leather products for a recent Royal College of Art Show held in London, England. He made two boiled leather stools called Bambi and Twist.
The boiled leather seat of Bambi is hollow and was made from a single piece of leather. It does have a deer-like look about it hence the name. Twist was created by molding the boiled leather around tubes which were later removed. Twist is thus self-supporting and only contains a ring frame in the seat. He also made several different kinds of vases combining boiled leather with other materials such as resin and acrylic. Molds are used to shape the leather and later removed.