Forums at Society of the Military Horse

Hello all!

I thought I would present a leather treatment puzzle to everyone, and see what sorts of ideas and possible solutions others might have for this particular dilemma. This dry leather issue seems common enough that many people have had to deal with it, or will deal with it in some future opportunity.

Recently obtained this stirrup strap specimen rolled up on a wooden stirrup frame. It is extremely old and quite dry - which has allowed it to be well preserved over the past ....what, some 150+ years? I suspect it's an unused civil war production stirrup strap for a 1859-type cavalry saddle.

Since it's in such well-preserved condition, and appears to be a new-old-stock type item, I'm hesitant to go whaling away on it to remove it for the sake of removing it. The best thing MAY BE just to leave as is. We'll have to see.

BUT for the sake of discussion, IF this is to be removed to allow for some manipulation, inspection for contractor marks, photos of construction techniques, measure, etc., I pose the question:

What would be your process for removing, treating and preserving this item?

My comments are made on the basis of seeing if it would be usable for display on a period saddle.
I would therefore unravel it to asses the overall condition and see if there are any markings. It is difficult to know just how stiff the leather is without handling it in person, being made of quite thick leather it might not be as stiff/dry as it appears once unrolled, of course if unraveling it causes cracking I would leave it.
I wonder how long it has be rolled up, perhaps over a hundred years or maybe five/ten years after being removed from a saddle?

If not needed for a saddle I would keep it as a curio, it has survived this long being rolled which has probably stopped it from being broken.
Either way a nice find as you know any pre WW1 stirrup straps on the loose are scarce.

Kurt.

Fought with myself for some time, and decided it's just better left as is.

Of note - I did some measurements, and the strap is 1 and 1/4" wide, cut and finished to that width, complete with crease from edger tool. But the standing loop and stitching are standard arsenal/contractor grade work - strap wasn't a cutdown 1 3/8". Very unusual to see this sort of variant. Inspectors were usually death on this sort of thing.