Glove
Date1610-1620
OriginEngland
MediumLeather, silk, silk thread, metallic thread, metal purl, metal beads.
DimensionsLength: 11 1/2"
Width: 3 3/4" (palm), 5 3/4" (gauntlet)
Credit LineAnonymous gift.
Object number1971-1640,1
DescriptionA pair of gloves made of leather and silk embroidered with silk and metallic threads; originally found in a wooden frame. The thumb is a separate piece stitched onto the hand portion of the glove. The gloves are embroidered with a floral motif, depicting a variety of flowers worked in pink, green, yellow, red, and blue silk embroidery thread. Silk ruffles trimmed with metallic thread separates the leather from the embroidered cuffs, or gauntlets. Metal purl and beads are also used to decorate the gloves. The cuffs are lined in pink-red silk, secured to the embroidered fabric of the cuff with an overcast stitch. The seams in the fingers of the glove show some repairs. Couching and split stitches and techniques were used.Label TextStitched in Time:
Gloves were almost as ubiquitous as needlework in 16th- and 17th- century England, with a range of styles worn by men, women, and children across social classes. When Horatio Busini visited England in 1618 alongside the Venetian ambassador, he noted "this fashion of gloves is so universal that even the porters wear them very ostentatiously." By the early 17th century, gloves like these were purchased ready-made from a shop rather than made as part of a woman's education.
Besides their protective uses, gloves could be highly decorative, made of fine leather with wide worked cuffs featuring silk embroidery, gold and silver thread, metallic lace, and spangles. Some pairs were perfumed, scented with cinnamon, cloves, and other spices. Pairs were frequently given as gifts, not just among friends, but also foreign ambassadors, courtiers, and monarchs.
MarkingsPrinted label on back of frame reqads: "FROST & REED,/LTD."(on either side of the firm's crest) "Bristol,/CLARE STREET" (opposite side) "LONDON,/26C KING STREET/ST. JAMES" S.W. 1"/(then below)" ARTISTIC FRAME MAKERS ESTABLISHED 1808/FINE ART PUBLISHERS 10/12/31
ProvenancePrior to 1957, Gloria Antica [antiques store] (London, England); 1957, purchased by Mabel Osborne; given to Eleanor Parsons and Roy E. Tomlinson (Montclair, NJ); 1971, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).
