Glove

Description

In 2011, Hollandia Archaeologists an excavation on the site of the demolished 'Bluebandhuis' on the corner of Arkelstraat and Rosmolensteeg.1Hoogendijk, T. (2015)
Late medieval settlement on the site of the Bluebandhuis in Gorinchem, Hollandia series 520, Zaandijk.
PDF (15 MB) The location is situated in the historic centre of Gorinchem and traces of the earliest settlement of the city have been found (last quarter of the 13th century).^e century) and a horse mill that was built here from the second half of the 15th century^e century (possibly even from the 14th^e century) until the beginning of the 19^e century in use. 

One of the wells on the grounds of the Bluebandhuis proved to be rich in finds. The contents were dated to the second half of the 14th century by the ceramics present.^e century. The leather finds from the well concern fragments of six shoes, a sword sheath, a belt pouch and a glove. The discovery of a glove from the 14^e century is unique, as leather gloves are found only sporadically.

Monkeys with Gloves in the Smithfield Decretals, 1275–1325

A glove made of calf leather

The five-fingered right glove is made from a single piece of calf leather with a separately inserted thumb. The pattern was cut out and then sewn together inside out at the sides. The glove was then turned over, with the grain side of the leather facing outwards. The thumb was inserted separately, but is no longer present. The separate insertion of the thumb was common in gloves and mittens. The part covering the palm and some finger parts are missing. They were probably reused.

Only a few gloves are known from the 14^e century, including one from Switzerland2Peoples, S. & M. Peoples (2006)
Schuhe, Tasche und more Leatherfunden. In: Das Bürgerasyl in Stein am Rhein. History of a wide range of spits. Schaffhausen Archaeology 7, P. 128 – 137. and one from Sweden.3Fredriksson, M., & B. Zerpe (1982)
Skor och andra läderförmäl, in: G. Dählback (eds.), Helgeandsholmen – 1000 ár i Stockholms ström, (Monographer av Stockholms kommun), Stockholm : p. 84 – 91. From the period after this and in particular from the 16^e century, some more leather gloves and mittens were found,4Egan, G. (2005)
Material culture in London in an age of transition. Tudor and Stuart period finds c1450·c1700 from excavations at riverside sites in Southwark. MoLAS Monograph 19.

Groenman-van Waateringe, W. (1988)
Leather from medieval Svendborg, Odense.

Schnack, C. (1998)
Die mittelalterlichen Lederfunde aus Schleswig – Futterale, Riemen, Taschen und meer Objekte. Ausgrabungen in Schleswig, Berichte und Studien 13. but it is not an everyday find. In the Netherlands a thumb of a glove or mitten was found in Kampen5Barwasser, M.&. 0. Goubitz (1990)
Leather, wood and textile finds, in: H. Clevis &. M. Smit, Hidden in dirt: archaeological finds from Kampen, 1375 – 1925, Kampen, p. 70 – 99. and in Middelburg and Dordrecht6Goubitz, 0. (2008)
Leather. In : THL Hos, DBS Paalman et al., Below street level! Archaeological research on the “Grote Markt" in Dordrecht, Municipality of Dordrecht, p. 67 72. a glove without a thumb.

Monkeys with gloves and a peddler with mittens on a rope, by Claes Jansz Visscher ca. 1610.

Function
Leather gloves could have been used for multiple purposes, for warming or protecting the hand, but it could also be an expression of a person's status. Especially from the 16^e century, gloves are depicted in paintings of high-ranking people. It is not yet clear for which activities the glove was worn. The glove seems to be too thin for heavy work and it was certainly not the property of a poor laborer. Moreover, no clear traces of wear have been found. Further research into such gloves is necessary to gain more insight into the function and owners of gloves. Such a fairly complete glove is therefore an addition to the scarce information about gloves from this period.

To Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen (2013)