Bridging Arts

Friday 2 October 2015

Beneath the skin or the skin beneath

These leather gloves (embroidered with silk and silver gilt thread) in the V&A, London, are 400 years old but it's still possible to sense the owner's hands beneath the leather. They're so human it's unsettling.
Gloves were hugely important in 17th century etiquette - you can imagine these were a pretty impressive social statement. But they were clearly worn, not just touted around.