Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-15
GLOVES IN HISTORY
Stories From the Middle Ages
to Beau BrummeI.
ROMAN FINGER STALLS
Character of Glove Indicated Rank
or Degree Of the
Wearer.

| Ancient things often survive time. and
the finger-stalls used by the old Romans
to gather olives are still employed in the
south of France. though we no longer
| hear of gluttons who. like Pithyllus. glove
| the tip of their tongues.
! The glove was much used in the middle
ages. and entirely covered the wrist. The
citizens We're made of sheepsKin, deer
| skin or fur; the bishops crocheted in silk
with golden threads; the priests were
simply of black leather The fur gloves
| which the French ladies wore on great
occasions fall into insignificance compared
,, with those Of the beautiful Venetians
when the doge stepped on the Bucentaure
to espouse the sea. Those slken gloves
were marvelously embossed with gold
and pearls. or made of priceless lace.
Some were made of skin on which. as
on FAM water cOlOrS represented coun-
try scenes Sheepfolds, or exquisite minia-
| lures. The Spanish glove of the period
was noted for its pungent scent, and
ladies suffered strangely In wearing them
Jeanne d Albret, the mother of Henri ~,
found her death through pair of gloves
prepared by friend of the sOmber
Catherine.
Falconers' Gloves.
Hawking was then at it's best. The
buckskin and buffalo glove, made for
falconers, covered the right hand and
went half way up the arm to protect 1t
against the talons of the bird IS it set
tied on the fist An ancient legend
speaks of a sparrow hawk only to be
caught with the magic glove which hung
on a carefully guarded golden column.
Only he who vanqu shed in the lists the
two most formidable champions of Chris
tepdOm able n aYnrnac h II
At the time of Queen Bess. Antonio
Perez wrote to Lady Rich, the sister of
Lord Essex, who had asked him to send
her some dogskin gloves: Not having
tempted to flay a little skin on the most
delicate part of my own body. according
to my custom. which is to fay my soul
for those / love-.
fury Rome. Grenoble. Blois and Paris
became famous for their gloves. cele-
brated memoir writer relates how he
purchased gloves scented with frangi-
panni from a woman manufacturer in
Paris famous for her perfumes" The
glove of ''cuir de pOule'' and cane pin
(outer lambskin) of the period were SO
delicate that they could be Enclosed in
nutshell.
Up to this time men had used gloves
more than women. but under George l
great ladies began to adopt long gloves
and mittens to set off their hands. They
were very costly. but it was the fashion,
especially in France. to offer ladies after
choose from.
At Court Of France.
In the gay French court of the eight
zenith century great display was made in
the wearing of gloves. They were made
of kid, thread or silk and were general
~ white, but wretchediy sewn that
the ladies of the court spoiled many
pairs every time they dressed. Enough
money was wasted OF feed whole fami-
les. The cut of these f1imsy toilet arti-
cles was extremely graceful. the cuff
tnterlaced with narrow ribbon and fine
rosettes Of carnations falling from the
wrist on the hand. The English way Of
ciated. For a glove to be good Spain
had to prepare the skin and render it
supple. France cut and England sew it,
Caraccioli, Italian ambassador to Lon
don, who writes interestingly on the
middle of the eighteenth century. wrote
when visiting Paris: "A woman of fash
ion changes her gloves four or five times
a day In winter they are made of fur
for trave ing: in summer she wears silk
mittens. Etiquette prescribeS that when
the ladies of the court hand any articles
to a princess they must remove their
gloves
A most elaborate pair of gloves dates
from the simple and stern days of the
French revolution. and belonged to
man of the Terror They were sent to
him amid scenes of blood and carnage.
On the back we see vignette In the
form of a seal. with liberty holding in
her hands the pike. the Phrygian cap and
the scales Of justice. On the right
crouches u lion. the sign of force; on the
left cat, the sign of Independence