Pair of Gloves thumbnail 1
Pair of Gloves thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Pair of Gloves

1850-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These stocking frame-knitted silk gloves with worked decoration were made for use indoors. Made of fine silk, featuring decorative elements, and being intended to cover a woman's hands and fit closely, they were designed to imply wealth and Victorian ideas about femininity. It was also significant that gloves like this suggested that the wearer did not work with their hands.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Glove
  • Glove
Materials and techniques
Silk yarn, stocking frame knitted, hand-sewn
Brief description
A pair of gloves for a woman, stocking frame-knitted silk with lace eyelets and worked floral decoration, Britain, about 1850–1860
Physical description
A pair of gloves, forerarm length, stocking frame knitted flat and hand-sewn together with inset thumb. They are knit in broad bands of black silk in stocking stitch with triangles of lace eyelets, alternating with narrow bands of light green silk in stocking stitch. The gloves are decorated with worked green and pink silk flowers.
Dimensions
  • Length: 43.8cm
  • Length: 43.8cm
  • Width: 9.5cm
Object history
Purchased in 1898 from Miss Annie Harris for 10s. Registered Papers 100287/1898.

Exhibited at Worthing Museum, March-April 1979, in the exhibition 'A Challenge to Fashion: Gloves, 1600-1979'. Registered Papers 78/1995.
Summary
These stocking frame-knitted silk gloves with worked decoration were made for use indoors. Made of fine silk, featuring decorative elements, and being intended to cover a woman's hands and fit closely, they were designed to imply wealth and Victorian ideas about femininity. It was also significant that gloves like this suggested that the wearer did not work with their hands.


Bibliographic reference
Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
Collection
Accession number
963&A-1898

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Record createdJanuary 9, 2008
Record URL
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