Gauntlet, for duelling, of mitten form for the right hand, for use in the tourney. Formed of a flared cuff, a metacarpal-plate and four finger-plates. The cuff is of tubular form with a rearward-overlapping join at the inside of the wrist secured by three externally-flush rivets. The edge of the cuff curves upwards at the outside of the hand. It has a notched inward turn accompanied by a recessed border containing thirteen modern brass-capped, round-headed lining-rivets fitted with small, circular iron washers internally and brass rosette washers externally. The cuff extends and flares slightly beyond the wrist at its lower end, and is shaped over the base of the thumb. The lower edge of the cuff has a notched inward turn over the inside of the wrist and the base of the thumb. A large portion of the edge has rusted and broken away and two holes are rusted through the cuff just behind the missing portion. A pair of modern, brass-capped, round-headed rivets for the attachment of the missing thumb-scales are located at the base of the thumb. The inner of the two rivets is fitted with a circular, internal washer. The lower edge of the cuff is overlapped at the outside by a metacarpal-plate which is itself overlapped by four somewhat shorter upward-overlapping finger-plates. The metacarpal and finger-plates are boxed at their outer ends where they are connected to one another and to the cuff by modern brass-capped, round-headed rivets with circular, internal washers. The outer ends of the finger-plates project upwards as short, rounded tongues around the rivet-heads. The upper edges of the finger-plates are slightly boxed. A final, long finger-plate is now missing.
The gauntlet is decorated in three longitudinal bands and in the horizontal border around its cuff and the base of the thumb with bands of etched and gilt trophies on a stippled ground, interspersed at some points with fantastic birds and musical instruments. The bands and borders are enclosed by etched and blackened lines. The areas between the main bands were formerly decorated with narrower, diagonal etched bands, also enclosed by blackened lines. The diagonal bands diverged upwards and outwards from the medial longitudinal band forming a chevron pattern. Only traces of them now survive. There appear to have been two pairs of such bands on the cuff and a further three pairs on the metacarpal and finger-plates. They have been deliberately erased at some time, as have pairs of transverse lines that formerly decorated the upper ends of the metacarpal and finger-plates.
History note: Mr Francis Henry Cripps-Day
Given by F.H. Cripps-Day
Depth: 14.8 cm
Height: 26.4 cm
Weight: 0.53 kg
Width: 14.1 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1942-06-20) by Cripps-Day, Francis Henry
16th Century, Mid#
Production date:
circa
AD 1560
It is likely that this gauntlet originally took the form of a 'locking gauntlet', with a hole in the end of the missing final finger-lame engaging a stud riveted to the missing portion of the inside of the cuff.
North Italian
The gauntlet is bright with gilt bands of decoration. The bright areas now show a medium to heavy patination and the gilt bands show wear.
Decoration
composed of
gilt
Circular Washers
composed of
iron (metal)
Rivet Caps
composed of
brass (alloy)
Borders
Parts
Hammered
: Formed of a flared cuff, a metacarpal-plate and four finger-plates; hammered, shaped, riveted, with bands and border with etched and gilded decoration
Patinating
Formed
Inscription present: a single dot
Inscription present: inventory number
Accession number: M.3-1942
Primary reference Number: 18652
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Gauntlet" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18652 Accessed: 2024-04-26 07:05:02
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/18652
|title=Gauntlet
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-26 07:05:02|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-18652
Accession Number: CM.3-1938
Accession Number: C.61-1927
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