Not to be confused with the plant Tradescantia spathacea, commonly known in Cuba as Cordobán For other uses of this term, see Cordoban (color).
Historically, the term cordobán designates goat or goat leather of high quality, very light and soft, which was obtained by vegetable tanning with special substances, including tannins obtained from sumac. Detail of cordobán embossed and gold of the 19th century
These tannins have a greater resistance to oxidation than other vegetable tannins, which keeps the color of the skin for longer. It also allows a greater penetration of the dyes, so this leather was used as a basis for embossed and polychrome leathers.
As decoration technique, it differs from the guadamecí in that it used the sheep skin, more delicate and soft than the goat, on which are stamped, worked or embossed polychrome, gold or stewed.
The word is of Mozarabic origin and alludes to the city of Córdoba, famous for its tannery and for all kinds of leather crafts; from horse saddles to bindings, paintings, screens, wall coverings, chair backs or other small furniture. In Spain the technique was developed during the Middle Ages and reached its greatest diffusion and popularity during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, being widely exported. At the moment there are few artisans that make it, as it happens with the rest of the artisan products.
Another common use of the term cordobán, collected in the dictionary of the RAE, refers to the leather tanned foal that is used in the development of luxury shoes, mainly man. It is a term that has been copied in the different European languages to define the hides of Córdoba. In French, from the term cordobán (leather of Córdoba) the word "cordonnier" (shoemaker) is derived. Notes and
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