200 Year old leather

On the 14th December 1789 the 'Times' newspaper reported,'the Metta Catharina from St.Petersburg for Grenada was driven ashore on Drakes Island', in Plymouth Sound, England. Ship and cargo lost, crew saved.

Almost 200 years later, two members of the Plymouth Sound Sub-Aqua Club were diving just west of Drakes Island, after searching for over two months for another wreck, they found a ship's bell. This brought the club's Nautical Archaeological Section into play. The bell was brought up from 30 meteres below and revealed the name, date and port of the vessel. After a carefull survey the slow work of recording and preserving the finds began. More than a decade later did I get my hands on the cargo that was recovered. Leather from the steppes of Russia, where annually reindeer are herded to St.Petersburg for meat, hides and horns. In the peaty mud of Plymouth Sound the leather was preserved and through the work of many months the leather was cleansed of mud and sea water ready to be dressed by Robin Snelson from whom I was eventually able to acquire some of the hides. What you see here in truly unique in this world, the skill and craftsmanship of the tanners and the location of the wreck combined to make this available to us.