page_title: Leather crafting
section_title: Stamping
hierarchical_section_title: Leather crafting / Techniques / Stamping
caption_attribution_description: English: Leatherwork done by and photographed by Johan Potgieter, 2005
context_page_description: Leather crafting or simply leathercraft is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art, using shaping techniques, coloring techniques or both.
context_section_description: Leather stamping involves the use of shaped implements (stamps) to create an imprint onto a leather surface, often by striking the stamps with a mallet.
  Commercial stamps are available in various designs, typically geometric or representative of animals. Most stamping is performed on vegetable tanned leather that has been cased. This is the action of dampening the leather with water so that it soaks into the surface fibres. The water makes the leather softer and able to be compressed by the design being pressed or stamped into it. After the leather has been stamped, the design stays on the leather as it dries out, but it can fade if the leather becomes wet and is flexed.  To make the impressions last longer, the leather is conditioned with oils and fats to make it waterproof and prevent the fibers from deforming.
caption: Examples of geometric stamping on leather.
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