These travelling pen and ink sets are made from vegetable tanned calf and goat skins that have been dyed using period dyes and they are made entirely by hand. Penners where a long lived concept and where in use from the early medieval period up to the beginning of the 18th century. They are often shown in paintings and prints being carried over a belt and there are a number of surviving examples. They are made by wet moulding calf leather around a former and the ink bottle which, when it dries, makes a very strong case. They are then covered with thin goat skin and laced together with two silk cords. They come complete with two hand made goose quill pens.
The pen case is 6 1/2 inches (17cm) long and holds 4 pens. The ink case is 3 inches long (7.5 cm)
Detail from Boccaccio's Decameron 1430
Karl Robinson - Leatherworker
2 Noble Street
Wem
Shropshire SY4 5DZ
United Kingdom