Solid Stick Umbrella, 1786 Russian Hide Collection

This is no ordinary umbrella. In fact, it combines the extraordinary craftsmanship of artisanal umbrella producer Maglia Francesco with the refined attention to detail and precious materials championed by G.J. Cleverley.

With a solid-stick construction, the handle is lined in some of Cleverley’s precious supply of vintage Russian reindeer hide, whilst the canopy is cut from a new and innovative waterproof cotton and poly jacquard, woven in Italy especially for this project.

Indeed, the story behind Cleverley’s source of Russian reindeer hide is something of a mythic tale – in 1973 the house secured a supply of extraordinary 18^th century hides that were found by deep sea divers in the hull of a sunken trade brigantine off the South Coast of England, and which conditions on the seabed had miraculously preserved for some 200 years.

The hides had been cured in baths of rye or oat flour and yeast, hand embossed with a cross-hatched grain and then soaked in seal oil and birch tan oil – yielding an extraordinary leather which is both supremely durable and malleable, perfect for fine shoemaking and for the crafting of superior leather goods, even after some two centuries on the sea bed.

A strictly limited edition, handmade in Italy and finished with gunmetal hardware, you’ll struggle to find a more rakish umbrella this side of Naples.

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