m7: The Horse on Top

A leather horse stands on top of this case. Its brass legs are the strap anchors.

Streaks of dye

m7 is hand dyed vegetable tanned leather, orange and red-brown in long vertical streaks, like grain in a plank. It is not thick bridle leather that keeps its form when empty. This leather is thinner and sags until it is filled, so the photographs show it stuffed with paper.

The horse

The handle is a brass horse with its legs planted on the flap, and the strap connects to the horse’s legs. The lock is brass, set in the center, and the lining is natural.

Three sections

12 x 9 x 5 inches, built in sections (2 x 1 x 2) with an Italian-made brass lock, hand saddle stitched.

In the workshop and on stone

I photographed the case against a stone wall and in the workshop with the flag behind it, as well as on white.

How it is made

The bridle leather is described on my leather page, and the journal explains it in What English Bridle Leather Actually Is, and Why Briefcases Are Cut From It.

The seams are hand stitched; see The Saddle Stitch Explained: Hand-Sewing Leather Step by Step for the method.