Thread: Old Horse Strops

The name 'shell cordovan' has a double meaning. 'Shell' defines which part of the horse it comes from, in this case it is the butt cheeks, and each shell is a roughly circular or oval, around the side of a dustbin lid. You only get two shells from one horse, which (along with the 6 month long tanning process) is why it is so costly. Most old shell was fairly thick, but the norm these days is for it to be around 2mm thick. The probable reason is that its intended end use is shoes and belts, not thick leather strops.

The other part of the equation is 'cordovan' - this came from Cordoba, in Spain, where the stuff was made (in the old days it was called 'cordwain' hence old english shoemakers being described as 'cordwainers') and refers to the method of tanning. As an aside, the original stuff wasn't even horse - it came from goats - but the tanning method was very different. Any part of the horse can be tanned in the cordovan method, so you can get cordovan horsehide which is not shell. In some places it usual to use the thicker leather from near the neck of the horse, cordovan-tan it, and mis-sell it as 'shell cordovan' - dubious practice indeed! You can usually spot the difference by the leather being thicker and more fibrous on one side - true shell cordovan is thinner and both sides are very tightly grained, the front being dried on a sheet of glass to give it the characteristic glazed look.

Regards,
Neil