About the Omersa Collection

The Omersa Collection is a range of unique leather animal footstools and desk top accessories. The first leather pig was made in 1927 and today we have a range of over 30 animals each in a variety of sizes.

The product is designed and made at our workshop in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England. Our aim is to remain true to the original methods of production and standards of craftsmanship.

We use top quality full grain cowhide leather which is UK sourced and tanned specifically for our purposes. We work very closely with our leather supplier (Lincolnshire based) to ensure the leather is fit for our purpose. As we have learnt over the years, leather is a natural product and can behave in very strange ways!

The leather is purchased in whole hides which range in size from 45sq feet up to 60sq ft. We mark out one skin at a time with pattern templates attempting to avoid any unsightly blemishes in the leather. Some blemishes however are natural e.g. a healed cut and where we think they suit the animal to be made we will include them.

After cutting out the hide, the pieces are sewn together by an experienced machinist and passed through for assembly. The assembly process is an arduous one and not for the faint hearted! Inside each animal there is a sturdy steel and wooden frame. Fine compressed woodwool is packed around the frame by hand, using a variety of home crafted tools, and is used to build up the features of the animal. This process takes considerable time, strength and determination but there is tremendous satisfaction with the end product! As each piece of leather responds differently to this hand crafting process no two animals are ever alike and hence the reason why animals cut from the same pattern template can differ quite significantly in shape and size. Each piece is truly unique and this adds to their charm and personality!

The sturdy steel and wooden frame we use allows the animal to be used as a footstool or occasional seat. The frame is strong enough to take the weight of an average sized adult but should not be “rocked” upon as this may well cause the legs to bend in at an angle. We use the size classifications of “large”, “medium”, “standard”, “small” and “miniature”. The “medium” and “standard” sized pieces are best suited as footstools. The “large” size is possibly a little high to use as a footstool and conversely the “small” size is probably too low. The best size to use as an occasional seat would be the “large” and “medium”. The “small” and “miniature” sizes are more for decorative purposes.  And then there is of course our magnificent “super king” rhinocerous which takes a whole family!! It is over 6 feet in length and requires a room of significant proportions.

The final process is to stain and wax the animal.  All our animals are stained the same colour – mahogany brown. A water based stain is used to stain the leather which is then “antiqued”. The staining process can result in a variety of shades of mahogany brown despite using exactly the same stain on all animals. We are told that the diet of the original animal can dictate the extent to which the leather absorbs the stain and hence the end colour of the animal. Finally, a liquid waterproofing wax is applied to seal the stain and nourish the leather. However, it is possible in the early stages of the life of the animal the stain may still be prone to damage by water. So please try and avoid contact with water and apply further coats of waterproofing wax polish to your animal to seal in the stain. Please see our “Animal Hospital” page for further care details.

We hope the above has been of interest to you. If you do have any further queries regarding our product, please do not hesitate to contact us.