Dyed parchment casts magical spell

The big, black shiny Mercedes-Benz rolled to a stop in front of my showroom and in an instant a slim, young man was opening one of the glass entry doors. His face was somewhat obscured by the afternoon sun pouring through the large plate-glass windows, but I knew immediately that I coveted the beautiful Ralph Lauren evening shoes on his feet, so fabulously juxtaposed to his worn blue jeans. (Being a designer I just can't help but notice such things!)

He strode past my desk and headed directly towards the silk covered Knot sofa, flopped down in front of my ever-popular sliding coffee table, threw his arms up in the air, his head back, lifted those gorgeous shoes in the air and shouted out a heartfelt "wow." By this time I realized that my visitor was "Mr. Big Movie Star" and that he quite obviously liked what he was seeing.

What drove him to such exuberant heights of appreciation and excitement was the same thing that had woven its magic spell upon countless other shoppers before him -- dyed parchment. In this case, I suppose the combination of the stunning green color and the allure of my sliding coffee table was just too much to bear, which accounted for the young man's demonstrative roar of approval.

To this day, I still find myself explaining to people that the tables (or screens or bar carts) are not lacquer, but dyed parchment. And they stare and scratch their heads and look at me in disbelief. Of course, they slowly accept the fact, are absolutely intrigued, and, to many, I explain the origin and qualities of this timeless exotic material that offers an almost indestructible surface as well as an element of classic design since it's most often used to cover simple and elegant shapes.

Goatskin parchment and vellum were certainly among the first materials ever used by ancient man. Parchment was actually invented a few hundred years before Christ as a substitute for papyrus. But among the cognoscenti of the world, these materials have been known to be used as a furniture finish only since the late 1880s when designer Carlo Bugatti (of the famous Bugatti car family) first designed and manufactured a number of unusual pieces that were covered entirely in parchment.

The modern British definition of parchment (a very thin material) means skins prepared from sheep. Vellum refers to skins prepared from calf or goat. Since the Middle Ages, the Italians seemed to favor using goatskin for their parchment and perhaps that's why the tables that were made for me (the ones that Mr. Big Movie Star and others fell in love with) all came from Italy.

Parchment and/or vellum is unlike leather in that it is not tanned. Rather, it is stretched, scraped and dried under tension, which yields a stiff, translucent animal skin that requires great skill to dye and successfully apply to a wood substrate. In fact, Bugatti developed a secret glue preparation, which is still secret today, that ensures that the applied skin will stay stable through the inevitable expansion-and-contraction process common to most materials.

The parchment, so resilient to scratches and nicks in itself, is further protected during the Italian manufacturing process by a special water-and-alcohol-resistant high-gloss polyester material. The final product is dazzling to behold, no doubt due to the way the material absorbs the dye with its inherent areas of light and dark further enhanced by the depth of color as seen under the mirror-like finish.

Yes, there is little doubt that this is the furniture of kings and movie stars and of people who appreciate and demand the very best. But, as time has gone on, true animal parchment has not only become extremely expensive and difficult to find, it has also become extremely politically incorrect to use -- and rightly so.

Sensing a changing wind for this material long ago, I began to offer clients a faux goatskin finish executed in lacquer with great success as well as a (vegetable) paper parchment, the same kind that is used in baking. Just recently I made the exciting discovery at the Brownstone Furniture showroom (located in Building A at the World Market Center) of Barkskin, which is an organic, hand-pounded bark material that is available in several natural and designer colors. Each piece is unique with a depth of visible texture and color that is truly exceptional.

In the hands of talented artisans, all three of these materials beautifully simulate the spirit of parchment and can appear in free-form, grid or cubistic applications just like the real thing.

Stephen Leon is president of Soleil Design International and has been designing and manufacturing custom furniture and cabinetry for more than 25 years. He is on the board of directors of the Central California/Nevada Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers. Questions can be sent to soleildesign@cox.net.