House of Leather Trades

The town of Graulhet near Toulouse in southern France was an important centre for tanning and the production of leather goods from the Middle Ages and still produces leather, especially using small hides. The Maison des Métiers du Cuir is a museum, heritage site and art gallery in a former tannery in the town, next to the River Dadou. The building is in the distinctive tannery style with louvred windows for ventilation. Large-scale original machinery still in place includes tanning drums. It is possible to trace all the stages from raw hides to finished leather goods with demonstrations by craftspeople. Objects, images, films and documents are used in a permanent exhibition about the industrial and social history of leather. A collection of thousands of skins donated in 2019 from the showroom of Darius Fabre is a superb archive of leather in all colours, strengths, textures and finishes. The centre includes exhibition space for contemporary arts using leather.