Dutch scholar Eloy Koldeweij in his book “Goudleer-Kinkarakawa” states the border originates from Amsterdam around 1660. On page 123 there is a picture of this border form the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
French scholar Henri Clouzot in his book “Cuirs décorés ” 1920 pictures on page XI of book 2 a Rose & Tulip border form the collection of the Museum “Vleeshuis” Antwerp. He dates the panel simply as 17th century and originating form Flanders. The border pictured by H. Clouzot is attached to a panel, when looked closely at one can see some putti and as central theme a fruit basket perhaps an allegory on the abundance ?
The Border we have was originally a reproduction made for restoration purposes by Van Herck Antwerp, a dynasty of antique dealers and restores. I was told the wooden blocks to reproduce the leather panels on cardboard paper were made at the end of the 19th century yet flipping a bend edge revealed a stamp of Van Herck dated 1925. This doesn’t proof the mould was made in the early 20th century yet I confess I would have expected to see 1892 for ex.
As you can see the border is framed by a cabochon and diamonds edge which we unfortunately have not on our border as the original panel we took the print from had a poor definition of this part of the sculpture event though it looks good on the picture.
Eventually it would be worth while to dig into the history of the Van Herck family in Antwerp …… maybe later……
Here another detail of our Rose & Tulip Border
As Always
Fred
Lutson Goudleder 