The Armour Archive

Does anyone have a primary source for the mail gauntlet used in SCA Rapier Combat.

I have a tertiary source:

There is one tiny mention in George Cameron Stone's "A Glossary of the
Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and
All Times - Together with some closely related subjects". Not the best
reference book, I know, but here's what the entry under "Fencing
Gauntlet, Duelling Gauntlet" says:

"A gauntlet for the left hand especially designed for parrying a thrust
or seizing an opponent's blade. The scales on the fingers lapped
upwards, the reverse of the ordinary method, in order that a sword point
could not catch under them. In addition, the palms where often lined
with mail, so that a blade could be grasped with impunity. Late 16th and
17th centuries".

[/b]

Nope. My research so far indicates that it was a plate gauntlet similar to the riding gauntlets you see in the English Civil War, I have also come across the quote about the mail palm for blade grasping. I would have to look it up.

http://www.arms-armor.cz/index.php?cata ... 04&cath=GA

They are called "guanti da presa". Supposedly there is at least one extant example in a small Italian museum. Check Blair and Tarassuk's Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons.

Extant pair either C16 or C17th in the Royal Armouries (in the defense gallery), mail backed, can;t remeber if the off hand was mail palmed.

I had images somewhere but lost them in a PC crash a few years back. If an email to the RA can get you details prod me and i'll get some snaps next time i'm up there (early new year i suspect).

N.

nathan wrote:Extant pair either C16 or C17th in the Royal Armouries (in the defense gallery), mail backed, can;t remeber if the off hand was mail palmed.

I had images somewhere but lost them in a PC crash a few years back. If an email to the RA can get you details prod me and i'll get some snaps next time i'm up there (early new year i suspect).

I got some images of said glove

[img]http://home.armourarchive.org/members/flonzy/images/Armory/MailleGloves/PICT0820.jpg[/img]

[img]http://home.armourarchive.org/members/flonzy/images/Armory/MailleGloves/PICT0817.jpg[/img]

[img]http://home.armourarchive.org/members/flonzy/images/Armory/MailleGloves/PICT0818.jpg[/img]

[img]http://home.armourarchive.org/members/flonzy/images/Armory/MailleGloves/PICT0819.jpg[/img]

Thank you all so much,
Saving this for future use, Regional Art Sci is in April.

.

James B. wrote:I got some images of said glove

... that's them.

Nice high res images James, that case is a git to photograph, what kit did you use to take them?

N. the envious

Nathan

I just have a 3.2 mega pixel SLR digital cam. Truely 1/3 of the images come out bad. Winterfell has a sweet cam that kills mine, next trip I take I am upgrading

[img]http://home.armourarchive.org/members/flonzy/images/Armory/MailleGloves/PICT0819Closeup.jpg[/img]


One more, this is just a cutout of the same picture of the right hand glove from up top, it is full scale from the camera so the maille is zoomed in.

James B. wrote:... it is full scale from the camera so the maille is zoomed in.

envy

James B. when you took these pics could you see the back side of the gloves? Were they mail covered? scale? bare?

Any guesses on the ring size? Looks like ~20G 3/16".

KMinion wrote:James B. when you took these pics could you see the back side of the gloves? Were they mail covered? scale? bare?

Any guesses on the ring size? Looks like ~20G 3/16".

The maille covers at least the back of the hand and likely the fingers to swat away thrusts but I cannot recall for sure. The rings looked to me 18 to 20g and 2-3mm riveted which is common in 16th century maille items I have seen like capes, collars, shirts, sleeves.