Why Is It Called ‘Patent Leather’?

Used in goods ranging from formal footwear to watch bands and wallets, patent leather is a stylish, extremely durable material relied on by clothiers around the globe. By definition, patent leather is “a leather with a hard smooth glossy surface,” and it’s known as much for its eye-catching luster as for  its water- and scuff-resistant nature. But is this style of leather actually under patent, or is the term less literal in nature?

The Oxford English Dictionary records the term “patent leather,” referring to leather coated in a protective varnish, appearing in print by the end of the 18th century. The process for creating patent leather in those times was later described in detail in an 1857 edition of Scientific American. It involved boiling a mixture of linseed oil and white lead, rubbing that into traditional leather to form a protective layer, and then finally applying a varnish to give the leather its shiny appearance.

As to the etymological origins of the term,there’s a likely connection to English tanners of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many of those tanners received patents related to leathermaking; among them was one patent from 1799 for “a method of painting and colouring all kinds of leather.”

But patent leather, as we know it today, was perfected and popularized in America by inventor Seth Boyden. During the 1810s to 1820s, Boyden took inspiration from those European leather workers and came up with an American version of varnished leather. While this was referred to as patent leather — carrying over from the Europeans who had previously patented similar techniques — Boyden never actually patented his own process.