When did you become involved in the business?
In the 1990s, our workshop created a gilded leather room for a replica of royal palace Huis ten Bosch at the Holland Village in Japan. That was the first time I was actively involved. Since I did not want this craft to be lost, I took it up again a few years after my father’s death.
Is leather gilding typical of the Netherlands?
Cities in the north of the Netherlands, especially Amsterdam and The Hague, were important centres of gilded leather production. In the Netherlands, both in the 17th century as well as the 18th, gilded leather was enormously popular as a wall covering.
© Goudleeratelier Van Soest
How is it different from gilded leather made elsewhere?
The gilded leather in the Netherlands is known for its strong relief. In Spain and France they chiefly used sheep and goat leather. In the Netherlands, however, they mostly used beautiful, smooth calfskin leather.
Can you describe a couple of your proudest achievements?
Restoring three gold leather chairs belonging to the Queen of the Netherlands. And the collaboration with Edward van Vliet, with whom I developed a new pattern that was presented at the exhibition Masterly – The Dutch in Milan in 2018.