Gents gauntlet

Glove 1580-1600.

This glove dates from the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1.
Gloves of ‘cordwain’ (white tawed goatskin), the flesh side outward and stained light brown. The cuffs covered with fawn silk embroidered with silver-gilt wire and seed pearls. The slits were made to display jeweled rings. English Stuart period.

The material largely used for fashion gloves from Elizabethan times up to the 18th century was called ‘Spanish’ or ‘Cordovan’ leather or the English equivalent ‘cordwain’. It was alum tawed and in this respect resembled in some degree the beautiful white, soft leather for which the Spanish city of Córdoba was famed from the 8th century onward: it was made from the skin of musole, a haired sheep. But the English version was usually made of goatskin and was, in most cases, worn grain side inward, the outer flesh side being buffed and stained, usually a neutral colour such as grey or fawn: they were often lavishly embroidered. All kinds of ornamentation was employed, for both men’s and women’s gloves; stitchery with coloured silks and silver or silver-gilt wire (sometimes in elaborate raised designs resembling stump work); seed pearls were often used and at times other precious stones, also cut-out patterns which revealed coloured silk
Leather Craftsmanship J.W. Waterer