Highly professional leatherwork is considered creative art that has brought well-earned recognition to Estonian artists. Through the whole period when we can talk of handicraft in national style, Estonians have cherished leather bookbinding, wallets, boxes, and even jewellery or wall decorations.

It is still commonly considered that leatherwork is one of the most distinguished 'traditional' souvenirs available in Estonia. Yet, were one to search for the roots of this craft, there is not much to be found in the peasant tradition. To date, just a few richly decorated knife sheaths, game bags and tobacco pouches have survived.

Although leatherwork has doubtlessly been one of the most common tasks for the Estonian peasantry, it never developed into professional artisanship. The origin of Estonian leatherwork is firmly in towns, in the trade of pistelmakers (Estonian-German compound word for 'stitch-maker') - artisans of largely Estonian origin who provided a variety of embellished belts, harnesses and other kinds of leatherwork, as well as simpler jewellery to the poorer townspeople and the peasantry of the countryside. As members of the saddlers' guild, they are mentioned in the town documents up to the Early Modern Age.

Competitors on the market, the craftsmen and traders of Estonian origin became quite a nuisance for the German guild authorities. In the early 16th century Tallinn, for instance, the respectable burghers demanded that the non-German small dealers and pistelmakers be chased with dogs from the market and replaced by 'civil' traders from Germany.

It is not known whether their grievances were met, but pistelmakers disappear from the written sources during the 17th century, and the Estonian-run professional leatherworking does not surface again before the end of 19th century.

The professional discrimination was not confined only to the towns. As urban gold- and silversmiths made a good profit by selling Bauernsilber (German for 'peasant silver') to the country people, they did everything in their power to stop 'illegal' (i.e. not guild members) artisans who worked at the manor houses and other rural centres.