My name is Sebastiaan van Soest, owner of Goudleer-atelier Van Soest. As the son of Petronella van Soest-Hendriks and Henricus Adrianus Bernardus van Soest — who founded the atelier in 1970, I quite literally grew up surrounded by gilded leather.

My father, H.A.B. van Soest, began in 1970 as a pioneer in both the conservation and restoration of historical gilded leather and the making of new pieces. He passed the craft on to me from the very beginning. Wherever my parents worked, they brought my sister and me along; we were a constant presence in the workshop on Kazernestraat 88a in The Hague, which housed the family practice until 1999. In March 2005, my father passed away far too early.

During the 1990s, the family practice produced a complete gilded-leather room for a replica of Huis ten Bosch palace at the Holland Village in Japan. That was the first time I worked on the creation of gilded leather myself.

Determined that the craft would not be lost, I took it up again some years after my father’s passing. Gilded leather is exceptionally versatile and has many applications. My mission is to give this material new life — and a contemporary expression — while honouring its centuries-old tradition.