James VERY nicely done especially with this type reverse embossed work....I did a bunch mucho years ago when doing medieval work. One of the finest pieces I've ever seen was an unfinished sword sheath for a cinqueda that was commissioned by Cesare Borgia. Other fine work is some of the Irish work, both leather and rawhide, This stuff is included in some of the books by John W Waterer, co-founder of The Museum of Leathercraft - if you have not seen his books check them out - a lot are expensive due to rarity, but I've found most via Interlibrary loan and then scanned or copied what I wanted to save
I'm curious is the back of the embossed pattern filled at all to help retain the shape? Most of the original reverse embossing I've seen has some kind of filler and the type of filler depends on the item - for pouches without a solid backing (i.e. sword sheaths and wall deco) the filler is usually leather scrapings plus a bit softer version of hide glue or cutler's resin or a mix with beeswax...