The natural surface of leather is like a landscape, with varying textures and shadowy furrows. These distinctive features are unique to genuine leather, a product which has been raised rather than engineered. No two hides are exactly alike, as with all things in nature.
Pore patterns, called the grain, distinguish the surface of the unaltered hide.
Cattle ranchers use distinctive brands to identify their steers. This will not be seen on Whittermore-Sherrill furniture.
Neck and shoulder wrinkles look like furrows.
Healed scratches from barbed wire nicks are common and are acceptable markings on an unaltered hide.