The Armour Archive

One of the things I have been looking to add to my collection for a while was a good example of the type of 16th c. gauntlet where the lames over the back of the hand are extended over the base of the thumb, eliminating that flappy thing that normally covers the base of the thumb.

A few years ago I obtained a simple version of it. You can find it here:

http://www.allenantiques.com/A-197.html

It wasn't the best example, and it is incomplete, so I kept looking. Late last year, I found another one at an auction and decided I wanted it. After a little money, I finally have it my hands:

http://www.allenantiques.com/A-227.html

I have included several angles and a weight.

It is a little late, but all of the main construction elements are the same as the nice late 16th c. Greenwich gauntlets. This one is a little later, and it adds points to the center of the lames and the knuckle plates. Otherwise, the same.

Look at the sweep of the cuff, the flex allowed in the back of the hand, and the inner plate over the base of the thumb. That is a nice example of how a gauntlet of this type should move. And, as a detail we tend not to do - look at the central crease. It follows a gentle curve, it isn't straight. That allows the gauntlet to follow the form of the hand and have an elegant cuff and crease.

Maybe we can include this in a study session sometime. We will have to be careful since it appears to have some original leather including a tiny piece of a glove just barely hanging on to the leather at the edge of the cuff.

Wade

A very nice piece Wade !

I assume the leathers that hold the finger scales are modern/semi-modern?

Vermillion wrote:A very nice piece Wade !

I assume the leathers that hold the finger scales are modern/semi-modern?

Yes, they do appear to be modern. But I think all of the plates are old.

I have the thumb plates too - the leather in them is even worse and the thumb is disconnected from the gauntlet and the tip plate is disconnected from the rest of the thumb plates. I guess time for some new leather there.

Wade

You know Wade I almost like these ones more than the more common ones! They look very nice. Thanks for the great pictures.

RPM

Wade,

Concerning the first pair. there are TWO rows of rivets on the thumb side. I assume they are both slotted or is the inward one a set of dummy rivets with a strap to prevent over-flextion? Do you have any other interior shots that show that side?

Thanks,
Sean

Sean Powell wrote:Wade,

Concerning the first pair. there are TWO rows of rivets on the thumb side. I assume they are both slotted or is the inward one a set of dummy rivets with a strap to prevent over-flextion? Do you have any other interior shots that show that side?

Thanks,
Sean

First - annoyingly, neither of these is now a pair. I own one of each. If I had a pair, I would show both. You can assume any time I only show one of something that I only own one of that thing.

Now to the real question. The second row of rivets are fake. They don't do anything. No slots, nothing. They are just stuck though the outer plate. There is no leather there either. Just cosmetic decoration.

It appears to me that they were making a gauntlet where it had the "integral thumb" but they wanted it to look more like the "common" form, so they put the little bump for the rivet and the rivet in the normal place.

I don't have an interior picture that shows that, do I? I do say that they are "false" in the description. That is something.

Wade

Ahh, I scanned the last picture on that page and didn't realize they were an unassociated pair. I should have paid closer attention.

So the middle stripe of rivets is fake (or temporary construction) except for the one attached to the knuckle plate. That's good to know!

Sean

From memory, absolutely fake, not even temporary construction. But I can check tonight if I remember. There will either be holes on the inside plates or not.

Wade

Yes, on the "more boring first gauntlet" the inner row of rivets on the thumb side is just fake. There aren't even any holes on the interior plates. And no leather in there. The plates just collapse backwards as far as they will bend (a long way back) and they move forward until they jam. It doesn't move as nicely as my new one.

Wade