A family business established in 1989 by Tim Bent, Bentleys antique leather shop is a collection of beautiful objects reminiscent of a museum. Unlike a museum, everything is for sale, and we’ll be featuring one of these objects each month. You can read more about Bentleys here.
This month, Tim’s son Ned tells us about a wonderfully patinated leather Norfolk hide attaché case that dates back to about 1920.
Norfolk hide is one of the most durable, stylish and collectible types of luggage around. They are hard to come by and highly sought after by vintage luggage collectors – a sort of best kept secret in the trade.
People love the fact nobody knows how to produce cases in this style anymore. The moulded leather takes on a lovely patina with use and the smooth, unstitched edges are easy on the eye + tactile to hold.
As the description on our website mentions, the technique for moulding the leather originated in Medieval times but was perfected for luggage in Norfolk Street, Sheffield in the early 1900s.
An enterprising chap called Thomas A. Ashton started a business on this street in the Victorian era that manufactured leather driving belts for all the industries in Sheffield. Before that, all their suppliers had been based in London.
He expanded the company to produce other types of moulded leather goods such as hydraulic and pneumatic leathers in the early 1900s.
In WWI they made bayonet scabbards, belts and pouches in moulded leather for the army, and once that contract finished, they launched the Ashtona attaché case. These became renowned for their amazingly stout construction. Most of the Norfolk cases we see in this style date from 1910-1930.
Tim has collected Norfolk hide suitcases for years and regularly carries a beautiful dark brown case which has his grandfather’s initials and is dated 1929, it’s very similar to the one on our website.
Check out all of Bentleys’ amazing pieces here.
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