Resumen de The Geoff Egan Memorial Lecture 2013 Taking up the glove: finds, uses and meanings of gloves, mittens and gauntlets in western Europe, c. AD 1300–1700
Late-medieval and early-modern people wore gloves, mittens and gauntlets for protection and decoration in many different contexts. These accessories were made for men, women and children; for workers, falconers, fighters, preachers and lovers. They exist in wool, textiles, metals and leather, made to fit and sometimes lavishly decorated. Gloves are easily lost, causing a number of ‘hand shoes’ to be recovered from excavations, especially in airtight contexts. There were social rules for when to wear gloves and when to take them off. They made suitable gifts and often appear as fashionable items in portraits. This article presents new research into the archaeology, iconography and symbolism of the different types of object used to cover hands in the late- and post-medieval periods.
