388

AWARDS—WOVEN HAIR FOR FURNITURE—LEATHER.

rCi.Ass XVI.

The Jury, after carefully examining all the specimenscontributed by various Exhibitors, have selected thefollowing, of which to make Honourable Mention, as themost suitable recognition of the general equality in styleand excellence displayed in these productions:—

Bouchet, C., 74a New Bond Street (24G, p. 527), forspecimens of the new crochet-work in wig making, onskin and on net.

Browne, F.,47 Fenchurch Street, London (245, p. 527),for head-dresses of ornamental hair.

Carles, H. R., 45 New Bond Street, London (251,p. 528), for wigs and head-dresses.

Causse, D. A., 267 Regent Street, London (259,p. 528’i, for perukes and head-dresses.

Croisat, J., 76 Rue de Richelieu (1574, France ,p. 1252), for perukes without toupees, produced by ma-chinery.

Isodorf. and Brandt, 217, Regent Street, London (253, p. 52S), for wigs, perukes, and other works inliair.

Rorey, W., Richmond, Surrey (262, p. 528), for ladies'head-dresses.

Thirierge, 4 Rue Vide Gousset, Paris (695, France ,p. 1212), for perukes and ladies’ fronts.

Tyzack, W. V. , Norwich (264, p. 528), for specimensof manufacture in false hair.

Vinter, W„ 205 Oxford Street, London (249, p. 528),for wigs and head-dresses.

The Jury are much indebted to Mr. Nesbitt, VigmoreStreet, to Mr. Jennings, Quadrant, and to Mr. Dalling,Old Bond Street, for their valuable assistance in theexamination of the various manufactures in artificialhair.

Woven Hair for Furniture and other purposes.

Hair used for weaving consists of the long hair fromhorses’ tails. It is procured principally from SouthAmerica and from Russia . All the black and grey hairis dyed for the manufacture of black hair-cloth for cover-ing furniture. White only can be dyed so as to producewhat are called fancy colours, such as green, claret, crim-son, scarlet, &c., and great care if. required in the process,which, however, when well managed, produces goodpermanent colours.

The quality of the cloth, as well as the brilliancy andpermanency of the colours, depend also in a great degreeon the nature of the warp, which may be either of cotton,linen, or worsted. Coloured hau*-cioth (principally ma-nufactured at Worcester, Sheffield, and Paris ) has beenextensively used in the fitting up of steam-vessels, and forcovering chairs, sofas, railway carriages, &c. Some ofthe lighter colours have also been used for boys’ caps,slippers, &c.

In the manufacture of hair-cloth, the weaver uses asort of hook-shuttle, which he passes between the threadsof the warp, or shed, towards his left hand; the assistant,or “server,” places a single hair over the end of thehook, and the weaver draws it through the warp. Thisoperation is a tedious one, and the hairs being necessarilyplaced in singly, prevents the application of machinery,■which is so advantageously used in fabrics where theshoot or weft consists of a continuous thread.

In this department, the Jury award Prize Medals tothe following Exhibitors :—

Delacoitr, II. P., 47 Rue Yieille du Temple, Paris (472, France , p. 1200), for horsehair and “vegetablesilk ” damask.

Forrer, A., 13G Regent Street, London (99, ClassXXI!I.,pp. 689-90), for ornaments worked in hair and gold.

IIacssens-IIap, B., Velvorde, Brussels (257, Belgium ,p. 1159), for horse-hair fibre stuffing for furniture, andother manufactures in hair.

Laycock and Sons, Sheffield (330, p. 535), for horse-hair damask, &c., of superior manufacture.

Lemonier and Co., 1 Rue du Coq St. Honors, Paris (909, France , p. 1223), for ornamental hair-work.

Webb, E., Worcester (243, p. 527), for coloured hair-cloth and cloth composed of silk and hair; also forhorse-hair carpets, woven in the same manner as Brussels

carpets. In all these articles great excellence of manu-facture has been attained.

Wisdom, Russell, and Whitman, Cleveland, Ohio .America (205, United States , p. 1450), for superior spe-cimens of curled hair for furniture.

Leather,

An exhibition of the various descriptions of leatherbrought from every country, affords an opportunity ofcomparing the peculiar qualities and excellencies of each,which must be highly instructive both to manufacturersand artizans. Many of the improvements in this branchof trade have been introduced from other countries,

| where they have originated in causes purely local: thus,

; Russian leather, so much esteemed for its scent, is tannedwith the cheapest bark of the country, and softened withan oil extracted from the bark of the birch tree, alsoabundantly produced; the combination of these materialsgives the scent and qualities so highly valued in Russian leather. The peculiar softness in French curried leather! is in part attributable to using the bark of the evergreenI oak, with which the better descriptions are tanned ; andj the sole leather of England, which is not surpassed byj any of its class, is dependent, to some extent, upon thesuperior oak bark that abounds in our island.

The bark of the oak tends to give firmness and solidity,while other sorts are remarkable for the softness theyimpart to the leather; and each material used in tanninggives some distinct quality in respect to colour, scent,toughness, or capability of resisting moisture and decay.

Experience shows that the tanning principle in differentcombinations is found in the bark and leaves of manytrees; and it is to be expected that an extended compa-rison of the various descriptions of leather, for the firsttime brought together, will be the means of suggestingmany improvements.

Chemistry has hitherto done less in this branch ofmanufacture than might have been expected. Thoughnumerous experiments have been tried, and many patentsgranted for new processes, there has been no decided im-provement, no marked progress, to show that betterresults have been obtained than by the old methods oftanning.

Very much has, however, been effected by mechanicalmeans during the last 50 years. The steam-engine hasbeen generally introduced into the manufactories of theleather-dressers and tanners. It is used in grinding bark,for softening foreign hides, and in giving motion to manymachines for washing, glazing, and finishing leather.But the most important results have arisen from the inven-tion of very ingenious machinery for splitting hides andskins. These machines completely separate the upperfrom the under surface, leaving each part of the samesuperficial dimensions as the original hide. This iseffected by means of a long sharp knife, kept in rapidmotion about the sixteenth of an inch from the edge of asmooth bar of iron, over which the skin is drawn bya revolving cylinder. By another machine the skin ispressed between two revolving rollers, and presented, asit emerges, to the edge of a long straight knife, which isnicely adjusted between the upper and under surface ofthe skin, and kept in motion backward and forward tofacilitate the operation of splitting. These machines arenow common in most of the leather manufactories ofEngland, and in some of the most important establish-ments on the Continent .

The hydraulic press is found to be a very usefulauxiliary for expressing the grease from sheep skins;it enables the leather manufacturer to dye more brilliantcolours, which cannot be well done whileany grease remainsin the pores of the skin. By these appliances the tannersand leather-dressers are enabled to produce a more per-fect and a cheaper article. The improved facilities oftransport, the abolition of excise duties, and the greaterfreedom of our commercial relations with other countries,have all tended to the same desirable result.

We proceed to give a short account of several descrip-tions of skins used for tanning and leather-dressing;specimens of which are met with both in the English andForeign sections of the Exhibition.