A pair of Italian fingered gauntlets

EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Details

A pair of Italian fingered gauntlets
Early 17th Century
Each comprising a pointed bell-shaped cuff with turned roped edge, five articulated metacarpal plates and a knuckle-plate, the latter with raised transverse rib, fingers of overlapping scales (replaced) mounted in leather, the surface, borders and raised rib on the knuckle-plate decorated with bands of fine fluting, polished bright, the surfaces between etched with gilt foliated scrolls against a blued ground (some patination overall) (2)

Lot Essay

The decoration relates closely to that on an armour for foot-combat at the barriers made in circa 1605, almost certainly for the young Cosimo II de' Medici (Grand Duke of Tuscany 1608-21), probably in the workshops of the Uffizi, Florence. This is now divided between the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Bargello, Florence, and the Royal Armouries. See L.G. Boccia, 'Arms and Armor from the Medici Court', Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Summer, 1983, pp. 58-61; L.G. Boccia & E.T. Coelho, L'Arte del Armatura in Italia, 1967, No. 418-20

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