Shell cordovan

Shell cordovan (or cordovan) is a type of leather commonly used in shoemaking. Cordovan is an equine leather made from the fibrous flat muscle (or shell) beneath the hide on the rump of the horse. [cite book| last = Baldwin | first = William Henry | title = The Shopping Book | publisher = The Macmillan company | date = 1929 | pages = p. 223 ] The leather derives its name from the city of Cordova, Spain, where it is was originally prepared by the Moors. [cite book| last = Watt | first = Alexander | title = Leather Manufacture | publisher = Van Nostrand | date = 1906 | pages = p. 228 ]

Production

After removal from the animal, the hide is measured from the root of the tail 18 inches forward on the backbone. The hide is cut at right angles to the backbone and the resulting pieces termed a “front” (the forward part) and the “butt”. The term cordovan leather applies to the product of both the tanned fronts and tanned butts, but is especially used in connection with the term galoshes, meaning the vamps or boot-fronts cut from the shell of the butt.cite book | author = Encyclopaedia Britannica | title = Encyclopaedia Britannica| publisher = The Werner Company | date = 1905 | pages = p. 284 ]

After being tanned, leather from the “front” is typically used in the fabrication of gloves, or blackened, to be used in the tops of shoes. The “butt”, after tanning, is passed through a splitting-machine which removes the grain, or hair side, revealing what is termed the "shell." The close fibers of the shell result in a smooth and pliable leather used almost exclusively in the manufacture of shoes.

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