01/04/2022
We start a new series looking at gloves decorated with needlework. In western Europe during the late Medieval era, gloves were considered an auspicious gift at New Years.
These gloves date to the early 1600s and were made in England. They're made of a cream colored leather (now somewhat browned) and have deep scalloped cuffs decorated with embroidery.
The cuffs are embroidered with a hunting scene and feature a man blowing a horn and dogs pursuing deer; squirrels, boar and birds. The embroidery is worked in silk, several kinds of metal threads, sequins and glass beads (eyes of animals). The outside edges of the cuffs are trimmed with narrow metal bobbin lace that would have gleamed when they were new.
These are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston at https://collections.mfa.org/objects/48001
