Cuir de Cordoue

The origin of the leather wallpaper probably dates back to the Moors, what the names Peaux d' Espagne, cordovan or Guadamiciles show. Guadamiciles refers to the old city of Ghadames ( Rhadames ) in Libya; the name cordovan refers to Cordoba in Andalusia, formerly capital of the Umayyad Caliphate of Al -Andalus during the Middle Ages, where the brought from North Africa craft of Ledergerbens was applied on a large scale and driven with the products trade.

The Moors brought the painted, partially gilded wallpaper from thin leather of calves, sheep and goats in Spain. After silver or varnish was applied to the wallpaper, you painted it.

During the Baroque period leather hangings were the preferred wall covering. From Spain, the leather wallpaper on France and Italy spread to Germany. Walls of palaces and houses of rich merchants were equipped with them, such as the hunting and baroque castle Moritzburg in Saxony. In the 18th century, the Classical period, the leather wallpaper was gradually replaced by printed or painted wallpaper.