CURRIER. One who dresses and prepares leather already tanned. The currier pares off roughness and inequalities, makes the leather soft and pliable, and gives it the necessary surface and colour. It is of interest to note that the word "curry," which de scribes the work of the currier, also means to dress a horse by grooming with a comb.
The word curry crops up in many telling phrases. The saying "to curry favour," to flatter or cajole, is a 16th century corruption of "to curry favel," i.e. a chestnut horse. A chestnut or fallow horse seems to have been taken as typical of deceit.