Inventory and Discovery - Rottmann leather papers in Dutch interiors. An online talk by Dr Yann Martineau

Japanese leather paper, despite its name, is actually made of paper. It was first manufactured in Japan in the mid-19^th century to imitate costly imported Spanish leather and formed the basis of a thriving export trade to the West, primarily to Britain and America. Whilst Western consumers of the papers were able to indulge their love of japonisme, Japanese consumers in their turn used them as a signifier of Westernisation in their own homes.

The British wallpaper company of Rottman, Strome & Co. were quick to establish manufacturing and trade in leather papers with Japanese suppliers and prided themselves on the quality and authenticity of their product.

In his extensive research into the Rotterdam furniture factory C.H. Eckhart, Dr Martineau has identified an original Japanese leather paper registered by Rottmann, Strome & Co. in 1886 which forms part of a Renaissance Revival decorative scheme carried out in 1898 for the Van…