Dimitri Omersa Leather Hippopotamus Footstool With Original Label

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Description

Dimitri Omersa Leather Hippopotamus Footstool with Original Label
Circa 1960–1975

The small leather hippopotamus stands foursquare on four stout legs, … Read more Dimitri Omersa Leather Hippopotamus Footstool with Original Label
Circa 1960–1975

The small leather hippopotamus stands foursquare on four stout legs, the barrel body worked in hand-stitched panels of hide and packed with straw, with a broad blunt muzzle, small applied ears, and a short tail. The leather has darkened with age and use to a deep chestnut brown, rubbed to a paler tone across the crown of the head, the shoulders, and the ridge of the back, and retains a soft uneven polish over the flanks. Each leg terminates in a turned wooden foot set into the base of the hide. The original shield-shaped leather label is attached by a cotton tie at the rear.

Scaled to sit beside an armchair or at the hearth, the hippopotamus suits a library, study, or paneled sitting room, where its worn chestnut leather keeps company with club chairs, brown furniture, and books, and it serves equally well as a sculptural accent in a mid-century interior.

Dimensions:
Height: 11 inches (27.9 cm)
Length: 19 inches (48.3 cm)
Width: 6 inches (15.2 cm)

Marks: Original shield-shaped leather label attached at the rear by a cotton tie, stamped in gilt with the outline of a rhinoceros enclosing “Omersa,” and lettered “Hand Made” and “In England” around the lower edge; the reverse blank.

Provenance: Private Pennsylvania Collection

Condition: No repairs. Patina, surface rubbing, and darkening consistent with age and use.

Historical Context:
The leather animal footstool originated at Liberty & Co. of London, where a craftsman known as “Old Bill,” who made hand luggage for the firm, made up a stuffed leather pig from leftover leather; the first was sold in 1927. Dimitri Omersa, a Yugoslav émigré working in the leather trade, took over the business on Old Bill’s retirement and moved it to Hitchin, Hertfordshire, in 1958, continuing to supply Liberty and adding the elephant, donkey, and rhinoceros to the pig. In 1963 he took the animals to North America, where his donkey won a gold medal at the California State Fair, and Abercrombie & Fitch retailed them from the mid-1960s into the 1980s. After his death in 1975 his widow, Inge, continued production for a further decade. Each animal is cut and stitched by hand and packed with straw, and the leather is left to acquire its color and surface through handling rather than finish.

Ref: NY11218-urrx See less