Carter Leather Desk Pad

The Carter Leather Desk Pad is a full-grain leather writing surface for the lawyer who signs, marks up, and reads at the same desk every day and would rather the desk showed it than the paper did.

Korchmar makes it the way it makes its cases: full-grain leather from American tanneries, cut and finished by hand in the workshop's own factory in the Dominican Republic, and backed with a non-skid rubber mat so it stays put under a legal pad and a fountain pen. Each hide carries its own grain, so no two pads are identical — the espresso reads warmer under a lamp, the black recedes under a monitor. It is the plainest object on this site and one of the most used.

• Full-grain American leather, handcrafted in the Dominican Republic
• Non-skid rubber backing
• 24 in wide × 17.5 in deep
• Grain character is one-of-a-kind per piece
• Available in Black and Espresso

Questions we are asked

Does a fountain pen write well on it? Better than on bare wood: the leather gives slightly under the nib, which is why blotters were leather in the first place. Use a pad or a single sheet; a nib straight on leather will mark it.

Will it curl? The rubber backing keeps it flat from the first day. If it arrives with a gentle roll from shipping, lay it face down overnight.

Is 24 by 17.5 inches large enough for a monitor stand and a pad? It covers the working half of a standard partner's desk — keyboard, pad, and a file open beside them. It is not a full-desk blotter.

Care. Wipe with a dry cloth. Ink lifts with a barely damp cloth if caught quickly; condition once a year with a colourless leather cream and leave it out of direct sun.

Built for the desk, not the bag. For the notebook that sits on it and travels, see the Desk Leather Journal; for the padfolio that goes to the hearing, see The Brief.

Barrister & Bespoke Curated Collection — hand-selected from Korchmar, an American leather workshop, for its craftsmanship and fit within our world. Curated pieces carry their maker's own identity rather than ours; our house collection, designed and branded exclusively for Barrister & Bespoke, is marked separately throughout the shop.

Why we carry it. Korchmar is a fourth-generation American workshop, in business since 1917, that builds in factories of its own rather than to a spec sheet sent abroad. We do not make a desk pad and do not plan to; we would rather sell theirs than a worse version of ours.

Warranty. This Product carries Korchmar's five-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, and Barrister & Bespoke's own Thirty-Day Assurance for the first thirty days after delivery. Full terms, including how to make a claim, are stated in our Warranty Policy.