The growing demand for leather industry in Sadah
Published: 02:06 PM,Jun 12,2021 | EDITED : 06:06 PM,Jun 12,2021
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The leather industry has an important role in human life, and it is one of the ancient Omani crafts whose by-product has a significant impact on Omani’s day to day life. Leather was used as a bed and container that preserves water, food and many different products. Today, this craft still constitutes one of the most important tributaries in the traditional industries sector in the Sultanate.
Craftswoman Maizon al Hakmani said that she has worked in the leather industry since the sixties and while she has grown in years, she is still at the helm of this craft. Her start, she describes, was very modest, and the people’s need for leather at the time in order to use them for their various purposes prompted her to master the process of tanning leather and manufacturing it in its various forms, especially at that stage when metal pots and plastic containers were scarce, and the leather was of great importance to Omanis.
To make leather, Al Hakmani shared that the skin passes through several stages until it becomes usable. The first of these stages is the pre-tanning stage and includes the skinning process. The skin must be flayed in a technical way called (dahsh), meaning opening the skin from the middle of the carcass towards the legs and inserting the hand between the skin. The skin is hollow, and this facilitates the task of suturing the skin later.
She explained, “Immediately after skinning, we clean it from the remnants of meat and fat and extract the legs, then sprinkle it with salt, add dates to it and put it in a piece of cloth and leave it for three days. In cases of urgent needs, they scrape the hair of the skin quickly.
“We use the juice of the leaves of the Al-Ayrib tree or the leaves of the Aram plant, which is a plant that exists in the wadis of the wilayats of Sadah, Mirbat and Jabal Samhan. These plants help make the process of scraping hair fast and within one day. At this stage, the skin is called (Mishit)’’, she said.
She explained that the second stage is tanning where the leaves and flowers of a parasitic plant that grows on tree branches called (Ansadot) or the leaves of another tree called (Dhuha), is used. The leaves and flowers of these plants are collected and chopped, then dried and re-grounded until they turn into a powder and the skin is tanned with it. The tanning process lasts from two to three days, and after the tanning stage is completed, the skin is ready to be tailored to any type the user wants. This stage is locally called (Ghasge’ez).
The third stage — the stage of detailing — and it is called (laked), which is the process of knitting. After the leather is prepared, it can be separated in the form of Aneet, need, shasab, or qurba and each of these has different uses.
She referred to the types of skins, their uses and the way they were detailed previously. People used to utilise the skins of goats, deer and ibex, but now they use only goat skins. Deer skins are only used for containers to preserve milk or churn curd due to its softness. As for the goat skin leather, (Need) is made from it due to its large size. The goat skin leather is used for all kinds of purposes according to the size of the sheet. Each type of these leather has special weaving and embroidery process.
Al Hakmani confirmed that in the past, the leather was not tanned with its hair, but now, after the development of the leathercraft industry, leather has become tanned with hair for the sake of adornment. The price of some leather products was very little, but at present, the price of some of them ranges between RO 20 to 40 sometimes, and it may reach more than that.
“The tools that are used in the weaving and embroidery process are scissors, a needle inserted into wood called mushfa, palm fronds, zari threads and leather strips’’.
Craftswoman Maizon al Hakmani said that she has worked in the leather industry since the sixties and while she has grown in years, she is still at the helm of this craft. Her start, she describes, was very modest, and the people’s need for leather at the time in order to use them for their various purposes prompted her to master the process of tanning leather and manufacturing it in its various forms, especially at that stage when metal pots and plastic containers were scarce, and the leather was of great importance to Omanis.
To make leather, Al Hakmani shared that the skin passes through several stages until it becomes usable. The first of these stages is the pre-tanning stage and includes the skinning process. The skin must be flayed in a technical way called (dahsh), meaning opening the skin from the middle of the carcass towards the legs and inserting the hand between the skin. The skin is hollow, and this facilitates the task of suturing the skin later.
She explained, “Immediately after skinning, we clean it from the remnants of meat and fat and extract the legs, then sprinkle it with salt, add dates to it and put it in a piece of cloth and leave it for three days. In cases of urgent needs, they scrape the hair of the skin quickly.
“We use the juice of the leaves of the Al-Ayrib tree or the leaves of the Aram plant, which is a plant that exists in the wadis of the wilayats of Sadah, Mirbat and Jabal Samhan. These plants help make the process of scraping hair fast and within one day. At this stage, the skin is called (Mishit)’’, she said.
She explained that the second stage is tanning where the leaves and flowers of a parasitic plant that grows on tree branches called (Ansadot) or the leaves of another tree called (Dhuha), is used. The leaves and flowers of these plants are collected and chopped, then dried and re-grounded until they turn into a powder and the skin is tanned with it. The tanning process lasts from two to three days, and after the tanning stage is completed, the skin is ready to be tailored to any type the user wants. This stage is locally called (Ghasge’ez).
The third stage — the stage of detailing — and it is called (laked), which is the process of knitting. After the leather is prepared, it can be separated in the form of Aneet, need, shasab, or qurba and each of these has different uses.
She referred to the types of skins, their uses and the way they were detailed previously. People used to utilise the skins of goats, deer and ibex, but now they use only goat skins. Deer skins are only used for containers to preserve milk or churn curd due to its softness. As for the goat skin leather, (Need) is made from it due to its large size. The goat skin leather is used for all kinds of purposes according to the size of the sheet. Each type of these leather has special weaving and embroidery process.
Al Hakmani confirmed that in the past, the leather was not tanned with its hair, but now, after the development of the leathercraft industry, leather has become tanned with hair for the sake of adornment. The price of some leather products was very little, but at present, the price of some of them ranges between RO 20 to 40 sometimes, and it may reach more than that.
“The tools that are used in the weaving and embroidery process are scissors, a needle inserted into wood called mushfa, palm fronds, zari threads and leather strips’’.