Description

An English (Greenwich) Bridle-Gauntlet For The Left Arm Circa 1630-40. Of russet iron, with rounded elbow-length cuff of two pieces riveted together and each with turned upper edge, the outer one with medial ridge and pointed apex, the hand of six overlapping metacarpal plates and an embossed knuckle-plate, each of the former with low medial ridge, the main edges bordered by pairs of incised lines, and with domed iron rivets throughout.

It is completed by an ochre-coloured leather glove, a specially made copy based on original examples.

Although pairs of elbow gauntlets were in use by cavalry in Europe in the later 16th Century, particularly the German States, by the second quarter of the 17th Century harquebusiers only used a gauntlet for the left hand; hence the name ‘bridle gauntlet’, since the reins were held in the left hand, while the right held the sword or pistol.

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