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The Beauty of Leather

04.02.2022 09:42

City of Košice Handicrafts

Shepherd's whips are one of the traditional folk crafts. They have been present in the territory of Slovakia since time immemorial. The shepherds considered them their working and signalling tools. However, leather products persist at this time. So come closer and feel the beauty of leather.

Ján Ihnát from Hatalov in the Michalovce district has been producing traditional leather whips for more than ten years. A former member of the folk ensemble Fodra from Hatalov, he began to search for and study the available literature on his own; later he started testing. He managed to make the first master whip, of which he is most proud, after four years of practice. It is important for the whip maker to be able to properly crack them, too. Cracking is a guarantee of a good whip.

Ján Ihnát also produces other leather products - belts, wristbands, shepherd's bags. Those he decorates with intricate braiding which resembles the plait of the whip itself. All the while he uses methods of sewing leather (especially beef) traditional for Zemplín. Patience is important here, too, as the production of one bag can take a whole day. You can find whips and other products made by Ján Ihnát all over Slovakia. And, when someone wants to remind a friend or family member of their homeland, they also travel abroad. Some are already in the US, Australia, or Germany.