Leatherwork (Charm-duzi)

Definition

The cutting, stitching, tooling and painting of leather for bags, belts, bookcovers, saddlery and small goods.

History

Leather has long been used in Iran for saddlery, water containers, shoes and bookbinding. Today Tabriz and Mashhad are often mentioned as centres of hand-stitched leather goods, alongside many small urban workshops.

Dates and attributions here summarise common positions in the literature and are under editorial review; they are not definitive.

Technique

Hides are cut to pattern, edges are bevelled and burnished, and pieces are joined with saddle stitch using two needles. Surfaces may be tooled, stamped, painted or gilded.

Collecting and identification

Hand saddle-stitching looks slightly slanted and identical on both sides; machine stitching is a single straight line. Ask whether the leather is genuine and how it was tanned.

This guidance is educational only and is not an authentication or valuation service.

Photographs

No photograph is shown yet: we have not found a clean, openly licensed image without watermarks. We would rather show none than a questionable one.

Gallery

Images are representative examples, not evidence for the sample marketplace records. Their sources and permission status are listed in the photography credits.

Marketplace

No objects of this craft are currently listed.

Related knowledge

Sources & references

• Book: Wulff, H. E. The Traditional Crafts of Persia. MIT Press, 1966.
• Institution: Encyclopaedia Iranica, relevant entries (online edition, accessed 2026-09-24).

Where origins, dates or symbolism are contested, this entry states the competing readings rather than choosing between them. Editorial analysis is not presented as documented fact.