interesting.. i remember looking up Cordavan once.. since it is commonly used to define a color of shoe leather, a dark redish brown, and i wondered why..

Webster's NW, says:
Cordavan, 1) of Cordova, Spain, 2) made of cordavan

and goes to define cordovan as "fine grained, colored leather, or shoes made from the same.

Griffin's shoe polish no relation come in the color cordovan as i recall, Kiwi shoe polish, has red, and ox-blood, but not cordovan (at least in US)

(AKA imelda)