DuoMat | Double-Sided Leather Placemats

Most table linen creates as much work as it prevents: a spill means a wash, a wash means an iron, and after a season the set no longer matches the table it was bought for. A leather-look placemat sidesteps the whole cycle. A spill lifts off with a cloth, oil does not sink in and leave a shadow, and there is no fabric to shrink, fade or fray.

Each mat is genuinely two-sided, and the two faces are different colours — chocolate on one side and black on the other, deep coffee against its own darker reverse, and so on through the range. That is the point of them: one set covers a light table setting and a dark one, and a mat that has taken the worst of a meal can simply be turned over for the next course. Each measures 44.5 by 30 centimetres, a generous rectangle that takes a dinner plate with a glass and cutlery beside it rather than forcing them onto the wood, and the surface carries a fine cowhide grain.

The material is waterproof and oil-resistant and insulates against heat, so a warm plate or a dish straight out of the oven sits on the mat rather than on the table. Five colourways are made — Chocolate Black, Dark Coffee, Light Coffee, Walnut Brown and Moon Grey — in a set of four, which is the household set for everyday meals. Wipe them clean and dry them flat; do not soak them or put them through a dishwasher.

• Construction: double-sided, a different colour on each face
• Dimensions: 44.5 x 30 cm per mat
• Surface: fine cowhide grain, waterproof and oil-resistant
• Heat: insulating, suitable under warm plates and serving dishes
• Colours: Chocolate Black, Dark Coffee, Light Coffee, Walnut Brown, Moon Grey
• Set: four mats
• Care: wipe clean and dry flat, not dishwasher safe