Not currently on display at the V&A

Glove

1860-1880 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In the 19th century gloves were an indispensible accessory for women. They were worn for day and evening wear. Wealthy women owned many pairs suited to different occasions and carefully chosen to match particular outfits. Strict rules applied to the wearing of gloves. A woman would be considered undressed if she left the house ungloved and it was customary, for instance, to keep gloves on in church, at the theatre and at balls but to remove them before dining.

A slim, elegant hand was considered a sign of good breeding and in the second half of the 19th century women's gloves became closer fitting. The high quality green kid glove seen in this image has a small gilt metal shell-shaped fastening on the inside of the wrist which can be attached to one of two fixings to ensure a close, smooth line. The length of the points which decorate the back of the hand and which extend almost to the finger stitching also make the hand appear more slender. The glove is machine sewn with green silk. It is finished with a narrow band of contrasting white kid applied to the wrist edge as a binding.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Leather, machine sewn with green silk
Brief description
Machine-sewn green kid leather woman's glove
Physical description
Woman's green kid leather dress glove, cut with a 'French thumb', a thumb quirk and fourchettes to the fingers. The seams are oversewn with green silk. The back of the hand is decorated with points machine-sewn in green silk. The glove is finished with a narrow band of contrasting white kid applied to the wrist edge as binding. There is a small gilt-metal shell-shaped fastening on the inside of the wrist with two fixings for the fastening to hook onto.
Dimensions
  • Minimum length: 21.8cm
  • Maximum length: 23.5cm
21.8cm is the value of the right hand glove, 23.5 is the value of the left hand glove; unable to decipher which dimension refers to T.101A-1935 and T.101-1935. The gloves, although identical in make and materials, are not a pair.
Marks and inscriptions
GARTIER (The inside of the left hand glove has been stamped with an oval imprint; the text in the centre reads 'GARTIER'; the text running around the outer edge is illegible. Unsure whether this is T.101A-1935 or T.101-1935 - needs to be verified on the objects.)
Summary
In the 19th century gloves were an indispensible accessory for women. They were worn for day and evening wear. Wealthy women owned many pairs suited to different occasions and carefully chosen to match particular outfits. Strict rules applied to the wearing of gloves. A woman would be considered undressed if she left the house ungloved and it was customary, for instance, to keep gloves on in church, at the theatre and at balls but to remove them before dining.

A slim, elegant hand was considered a sign of good breeding and in the second half of the 19th century women's gloves became closer fitting. The high quality green kid glove seen in this image has a small gilt metal shell-shaped fastening on the inside of the wrist which can be attached to one of two fixings to ensure a close, smooth line. The length of the points which decorate the back of the hand and which extend almost to the finger stitching also make the hand appear more slender. The glove is machine sewn with green silk. It is finished with a narrow band of contrasting white kid applied to the wrist edge as a binding.
Bibliographic reference
Johnston, Lucy with Kite, Marion and Persson, Helen. Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail. London: V&A Publications, 2005. 154-5p., ill. ISBN 185174394.
Collection
Accession number
T.101A-1935

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Record createdDecember 18, 2007
Record URL
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