GUIDE - Parts of bovine leather

1. THE COLLAR

The COLLAR is the skin located at the animal's neck. Since it is a very mobile part of the animal, the leather may have some wrinkles (in our opinion, this gives it a visual richness). It remains a very resistant part of the leather.

2. THE RUMP

The rump is the part of the skin that covers the back up to the rump (i.e. the buttocks). This part is reputed to be the finest part of the leather: regular, dense and thick. The lean* is almost zero.

At the end of the rump there is the buttock: this part is less regular but remains a good part mainly in small animals.

3. THE FLANK

The FLANK corresponds to the underside of the animal (i.e. its belly). This is the least noble part of the leather with a high lend* (elasticity) which limits its use. Its use should be limited to articles subject to little tensile stress.

4. THE BAND

One strip corresponds to half a skin.
A strip is therefore made up of a half-neck, a half-rump and a flank.

5. THE HALF-BACKSET

A half-backset is a strip without the sides so that only the noble parts of the leather remain. This part allows for creations requiring long lengths (more than 2 meters): example saddlery and horse riding. By deduction, a backset is a whole hide sold without the sides.

6. *THE LENDER

The grain direction of the leather refers to the direction of elasticity of the skin, specifically the direction in which the leather will stretch the most and deform. The grain direction is distributed differently on the same skin. Generally speaking, and for an adult bovine skin, the grain direction is located lengthwise in the buttock and widthwise in the rump, neck, flanks and legs.