xhibited in London. There were some hideous and grotesque figures,
which it was said had been designed for the mental torture of the
victims of the Inquisition. Some of the larger specimens were remarkably
well executed, especially so some of the wine bottles which imitated
very realistically the pose of men and women. Some of the female figures
were represented wearing flowing gowns and costumes of the height of
fashion--tall and noble women. By way of contrast there were little
manikin wine jugs of the most grotesque forms.

The Spaniards made leather upholsteries of remarkable designs; they also
ornamented boxes, trunks, and cases for knives and costly trinkets.

"Cuir boulli" Work.

Most of the decorated leather work of that period, examples of which are
not very difficult to secure, was made by the _cuir boulli_ process. The
leather, after being boiled down to a pulp and salt and alum added, was
then moulded to any desired form, the decoration being imparted in the
process.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is very rich in fine examples, and a
description of some of the typical pieces there may serve as a guide to
collectors hopeful of including some objects moulded by this process
among their household relics.

The work was carried on at Cordova and other places for a long period,
some of the museum examples dating back to the fifteenth century. There
are cases for holding what were then rare books and manuscripts, and a
remarkable scribe's case with a red cover has loops on either side to
which a cord was attached. The scribe was an important personage in
commercial and private correspondence in the days when even rudimentary
education was by no means general.

In the same collection is a leather box for holding a knife and fork; on
the outer case is a medallion, in the centre of which is a
representation of the two spies returning from Canaan with a large bunch
of grapes. There are also cases which have once held wine bottles, some
ornamented in colours; indeed, the stamped, cut, and embossed designs of
the _cuir boulli_ work were frequently enriched by the addition of red,
yellow, and gold.

There are some specially interesting examples of Italian work,
representing a period covering nearly the whole of the Renaissance. In
this connection there are pilgrim bottles of yellow glass encased in
wonderful leather covers, cut and embossed. There are leather snuff
boxes with trellis-work ornament and scroll bo