Locking Gauntlet

This mitten-type gauntlet is constructed with a circular cuff, to which are attached five metacarpal plates––the fourth covering the base of the thumb and with two thumb lames riveted to it––and four broad finger lames (each extending laterally across four fingers) with embossed and roped knuckle ridges. The lowermost finger lame is unusually long and extends to the back of the cuff, to which it is attachable by means of a keyhole-shaped slot and turning pin. The edge of the cuff is turned over inward and roped, and is followed by a series of brass-covered lining rivets; it retains portions of the original lining strap, which once held a leather glove. The decoration consists of a wide recessed band around the cuff, and narrow bands extending the length of the gauntlet, which are etched with trophies of arms and foliage on the dotted background, completely gilt; between the narrow bands is a series of reversed S-shaped ornaments, etched with foliage, and gilt.

The close-gauntlet (or locking gauntlet) is a special form of mitten gauntlet for the right hand which can be locked in a closed position so the sword cannot be dislodged from the grip. The close-gauntlet appeared at the turn of the sixteenth century, when new and more specialized forms of armor were being developed for the joust and tournament. It was designed exclusively for use with a sword in foot combat, in a closed arena or over a barrier, or in a mock battle with a group of knights on horseback. Though numerous tournament regulations prohibited its use ("He that shall have a close gauntlett, or any thinge to fasten his sword to his hand, shall have no prize"), a sufficient number of examples survive to prove that it enjoyed considerable popularity. A very early example of the close-gauntlet is associated with the foot-combat armor of Claude de Vaudrey, made in Milan about 1495 (Vienna Waffensammlung, inv. no. B. 33), which suggests that it may have been an Italian invention. Another early example is the close-gauntlet belonging to the foot-combat armor of Henry VIII of England, about 1520 (Tower of London, inv. no. II 6), which predates the long series of close-gauntlets that accompany the garnitures of armors made at the Royal Workshops at Greenwich, beginning with the so-called Genouilhac armor of 1527 (Metropolitan Museum, acc. no. 19.131.1).

The reversed S-shaped ornament used to decorate the gauntlet alludes to the "slashed" decoration common in European costume in the first half of the sixteenth century. In garmets of this fashion, S-shaped cutouts would be made in the exterior fabric, through which would show the lining of contrasting color. Such decoration was often combined with voluminous puffed and gathered forms, as exemplified by the colorful costume of the Landsknechte (the German infantry troops that served as mercenaries throughout Europe). Puffed and slashed costume was occasionally imitated in armor of articulated plates, but this fashion was short-lived and is encountered infrequently after about 1530.

This gauntlet is a late example of armor decorated with "slashes" and probably dates to the late 1530s or 1540s, when numerous narrow bands of ornament were common to armor decoration. An incomplete armor from the Scott Collection in the Glasgow Art Gallery (inv. no. '39-65s), which is decorated with narrow vertical bands and slashes etched and gilt, is very similar to this gauntlet, though there are sufficient differences in the etched motifs to indicate that the armor and gauntlet belong to different garnitures. The Glasgow armor is dated 1545, which provides an apporximate date for this gauntlet. Though unmarked, the gauntlet may be attributed to Augsburg manufacture by the similarity of its etched foliate ornament with decoration on documented or marked Augsburg armors (Real Armeria, Madrid, inv. nos. A. 118-A. 138, dated 1538, and A. 157-A.158, dated 1543–44). It is worth noting that the fashion for armor decorated with narrow bands and slashes lasted in England until the 1560s: the Elizabethan courtier Thomas Howard, Earl of Norfolk, possessed such an armor, complete with pieces for the tilt and tournament, including a close-gauntlet, which was made for him at Greenwich about 1560–65.