Leather was used for making light, unbreakable bottles for carrying drink on a journey. Soaked in water, the leather could be shaped around a pattern or ‘former’ and would retain its shape when dry. Costrels were barrel-shaped, and had lugs with holes on either side of the mouth so that they could be carried on a cord worn on the belt or round the neck.
I molded it around the wooden model, then carved and tooled. Antiqued 1st, and then painted with Canyon Tan water based dye. Background: jawa brown water based dye. Bees wax at 200 F was used to make it waterproof. All seams are hand stitched.