THE TRADITONAL TANNERY IN MOROCCO

The Traditional Tannery In Morocco

The Traditional Tannery in Morocco

    Tanning It is an art from past centuries that has made Morocco famous. The tannery spread throughout the kingdom under the Almohad dynasty in the 12th century. Nothing has changed since then. The materials and techniques used are the grandparents.

Empire of the senses. The smell caressed the gills, enhanced the colors of the pupils and the final material hugged the skin. In the Chouara tannery in Fez, more than 500 leading artisans are busy every day in 1,200 tanks. Around 900 years old, it is the largest traditional Moroccan tannery.

What is a traditional tannery in Morocco!!

The tannery constitutes the first operation in the treatment of leather before shaping it to produce the various articles. It is an activity known for centuries and it developed at the time of the Almohads in particular in Marrakech and Fez.

It is mainly carried out using natural plant products: mimosa bark, cork oak bark, grenadine bark, takaout, bran, flour, pigeon droppings, virgin oil, ... having specific properties to transform raw skin into finished leather.

The preparation of the skins involves a series of complicated operations. It requires long-term work varying according to the kind of skin that one has to treat. There are three types of skin: sheep (sheep), cattle (cow) and goat (goat). The duration of each operation varies according to the season. The skins that require the most careful preparation are those of goats.



They are bought in the souk, brought to the tannery coated with hairs, but they can be fresh or salted. In the first case, they are bought at the outlet of the butcher's shop and salting takes place at the tannery. The skins are salted on both sides, extended in full sun and the layer of salt is applied vigorously by rubbing with the hand to facilitate penetration. The salt that melts is replaced by a new layer, the operation lasts three to four days.

When the skins are dry, they are folded in four and stacked either in a corner of the tannery or in the workshop shops. If on the contrary, they were bought in the souk after salting and drying, they are stored directly. The first operation done for the latter is washing. This step consists in putting the skins on re-greening, that is to say in a bath intended to rid them of impurities, of the salt used at the beginning to preserve them, and to make them grow and swell slightly. The duration of this bath depends on the season, from one night in summer to four days in winter in cold weather. After washing, the goat skins are ready to undergo the second stage, that of dyeing.

The dyeing operation must be done carefully and carefully so as not to let any part escape, it lasts two to three hours. After which the skins go to the depilator who, using a knife which he holds in both hands, plucks the hairs from the fleece stretched on a pole leaning against the wall. This depilation work is carried out in special rooms, arranged around the central area. As this operation continues, he removes and slides upwards the part of the already shaved skin, which hangs between the wall and the pole.

The skins thus plucked, are immersed in lime basins filled with water laden with slaked lime then with active lime and quicklime. The tanning boss must closely monitor the duration of these baths. Often, especially in summer, you will have to get up at night to go and remove the skins to depilate them.

Skins that have become perfectly clear are washed.

The tanners spread the skins in the water basins to be progressively purged of the lime which impregnated them during the previous baths. They first undergo a two-hour preparatory wash in the first basin, then they are thrown into a deeper second where a team of two or three workers descends to tread them methodically, punctuating their efforts with a characteristic melody. They are leaning forward and leaning with their two arms on the edge of the basin. They plunge their feet in rhythm into the skins they tread and paw like impatient couriers. The skins evacuate their impurities and the traces of lime that they kept, the whole drains with water then is constantly renewed. This operation takes approximately three hours. It is tiring.

At the end of the pool

the skins undergo the action of successive and varied baths in the pits

• The droppings of wild pigeons. The skins stay there for four to eight days.
• The sound bath. It is done in the same pit only after cleaning. The skins stay there for 10 to 15 days in summer. The latter must be very closely watched because the skins which have been neglected would be pierced quickly.

After the skins have dried, the workers dye them. This operation is carried out by the tanners themselves on the terraces. The colors used come from plants: the poppy for the red dye, the mint for the green, the indigo for the blue, the kohl for the black, the henna for the orange, a mixture of oil and pomegranate for the yellow . The tanners pour the paint in small jets on the skin and spread it over the entire surface on the flower side, rubbing it with your hand to make it penetrate, then the skins are laid on the straw in the sun.

After dyeing and drying, begin the successive operations of softening the leathers, and smoothing with a tool composed of a convex iron blade on a wooden rod which is assembled to a kind of wooden bow.

The skin is stretched lengthwise and the worker works constantly bent, applying the wooden arch against his chest. With the right hand, he holds the iron sleeve and from the left the skin he stretches to soften it. The smoothing is done on the flesh side then, it graines the flower side on a small terracotta dome

The Traditional Tannery in Morocco

The skin, thus tanned, made both supple and resistant, can be delivered for sale.