The Harbor Holds – leather studies of Old Town Alexandria

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies.

A September study – Volume II.

The Harbor Holds – a small leather collection for Old Town Alexandria, five stamps about the ways an old port keeps its grip. They land on luggage tags, journals and the rest of the line.

First, we drew a mooring line taking two turns around a wharf bollard and set MADE FAST beneath it – the waterfront's word for tied and staying tied. A luggage tag makes the same promise to a bag.

A black and white made fast stamping die for leather accessories from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

The black tag carries it in gold foil.

A black leather luggage tag with a gold mooring bollard and MADE FAST stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

River navy and honeyed russet take a blind press.

A navy leather luggage tag with a blind mooring bollard and MADE FAST stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A honeyed russet leather luggage tag with a blind mooring bollard and MADE FAST stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Next, the iron stars. All over Old Town, the star on a brick gable is the outer end of an iron rod keeping the wall together. We put that hardware on the keychain fob over the words STILL HOLDING – the wall's job, scaled to keys.

A black and white still holding stamping die for leather accessories from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather – once on chestnut, once on black.

A chestnut leather keychain with an iron star and STILL HOLDING stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A black leather keychain with a blind iron star and STILL HOLDING stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Then the toiletry kit. Diggers along the old waterfront brought up an oak basket, woven strip over strip – the port's working luggage. We redrew the weave above the words BUILT TO CARRY for the kit's corner stamp, warm tan over chestnut.

A black and white built to carry stamping die for leather accessories from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Two leather toiletry bags in warm tan and chestnut with woven basket and BUILT TO CARRY corner stamps from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

Then the namesake. A 1748 survey drew this shore as a shallow crescent between two points of land, with the flats charted inside the curve. We redrew the crescent, set one sloop at anchor beneath it, and wrote THE HARBOR HOLDS – on the catchall tray, because the tray is where the rings ride out the night.

A black and white harbor holds stamping die for leather accessories from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

It looks genuinely beautiful in the golden tan.

A golden tan leather catchall tray with a crescent shoreline, anchored sloop and THE HARBOR HOLDS stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

And finally, the potters. Alexandria was turning out its own jars by 1792, and its makers signed the clay before the kiln sealed it. We drew a jug of our own, set ALEXANDRIA across the belly, and stamped it into the journal's corner – the press moving from clay to leather.

A black and white potters mark stamping die for leather accessories from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

One journal in the pale greige of a salt-glazed body, one in the navy of cobalt brushwork.

A pale greige leather journal with an ALEXANDRIA pottery jug corner stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A navy leather journal with an ALEXANDRIA pottery jug corner stamp from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like anything here made real, or anything changed – say hello through our contact page.

P.S.

A black leather luggage tag with a gold mooring bollard and MADE FAST stamp in an alternate render from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A navy leather luggage tag with a blind mooring bollard and MADE FAST stamp in an alternate render from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

A honeyed russet leather luggage tag with a blind mooring bollard and MADE FAST stamp in an alternate render from The Harbor Holds collection of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.