pyrographed letter case
This lovely pale leather scroll case was a gift custom-made for Chaliimriia Goiki. It is made of bleached white leather, most of it soft; but key components were hardened by boiling the leather, then stretching it over a form to maintain cylindrical shapes as it cooled and dried. The outer, finished side of the leather has been decorated in intricate designs via pyrography. The whole thing has been chemically sealed to resist stains or water damage.
The cylinder with the smaller diameter holds two inkpens, one (formerly rectangular) chunk of sealing wax wrapped in a rag of blotting cloth, and whatever partially-used low quality ink containers could be crammed into the cavity so that it will not rattle. The cylinder with the larger diameter contains a tightly-rolled mismatched assortment of cheap paper for letter-writing purposes.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
It consists of two boiled-leather rigid cylinders, each attached along the opposite side of a soft leather rectangle. The cylinder with the smaller diameter rolls toward the larger, adding layers of the rectangle until when they touch, both cylinders appear to have matching diameters. Each cylinder has several tiny hook-and-eye fasteners, made from sharply curved thorns, spaced along most of its length to hold its storage compartment closed.
When the cylinders are both closed, they roll together and are fastened by a plain leather strap. When unrolled, the pale leather connecting the cylinders serves as a writing surface.
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