Glove
English
Category
Costume
Date
1570 - 1630
Materials
Leather embroidered with coloured silks and threads. Decorated with metal lace and spangles
Measurements
340 mm (Length)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1180733
Summary
A pair of late Elizabethan or Jacobean cream suede finished leather gloves with elaborate cuffs embroidered with coloured silks and gilt threads, applied silk ribbon tabs, silver-gilt lace and spangles. England, late 16th/early 17th century. See 'Treasures from India' catalogue pg.96.
Full description
Embroidered gloves were exchanged as luxurious gifts – expensive symbols of friendship and loyalty – among a wealthy elite in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. They became popular during the reign of Elizabeth I (1533–1603), who was a recipient of many pairs as New Year gifts and while on royal progress around the country. Designed for display rather than comfort and protection, decorative gloves signalled wealth and status and might be tucked prominently into a belt or carried in the hand, as well as worn.
Provenance
These late Elizabethan or Jacobean gloves seems unlikely possessions for Tipu Sultan, but family tradition has always associated them with him at Powis. Sir Thomas Roe, James I's ambassador to the court of the Great Mogul 1615-19, and his chaplain, the Rev.Edward Terry, both note in their journals that finely embroidered English gloves were a common ambassadorial gift to members of the Indian court. The gloves may be a freak survival from the uncertain beginnings of our East India trade. (MURHPY 1981: V.Murphy, 'A Note on some recent discovered Tipu shawl fragments in England and comparative material in Bharat Kala Bhavan' Chhavi-2, Banares 1981). Accepted by HM Treasury on 21st March, 1963 in lieu of tax and conveyed to National Trust ownership on 29th November 1963.
Makers and roles
English, maker
References
Archer, Rowell and Skelton 1987 Mildred Archer, Christopher Rowell, and Robert Skelton, Treasures from India: The Clive Collection at Powis Castle, London, 1987, p. 96. Antrobus and Slocombe 2025: Helen Antrobus and Emma Slocombe, 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the collections of the National Trust, National Trust 2025, pp. 12-13.