Mitten Gauntlet for the Left Hand
- Attributed to
- Anton Peffenhauser, German, 1525–1603
- Date
- 1563
- made in
- Augsburg, Bavaria state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Arms & armor, metalwork
- Collection
- Decorative Arts and Design
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 126
- Dimensions
- 10 x 5 1/4 x 5 1/16 in. (25.4 x 13.3 x 12.9 cm)
weight: 1 lb. 4 oz. (0.6 kg) - Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 80:1939
NOTES
Gauntlets provided hand protection while permitting the flexibility necessary to wield a sword or control the reins of a horse. They feature an ingenious system of plates connected by rivets and leather straps attached to a leather glove. Properly designed and fitted gauntlets enabled a knight to pick up even small objects. Like the stirrups in this case, this gauntlet has a Habsburg connection, as it belonged to one of Emperor Ferdinand I’s sons, Archduke Karl II of Austria.
Provenance
1563 - c.1795
Archduke Karl II of Austria (1540-1590), Vienna, Austria [1]
by c.1815 - still in 1929
Imperial Russian Collection, the Hermitage, Leningrad, Russia [2]
c.1930
Cyril Andrade, England [3]
by 1930 - 1939
Clarence H. Mackay (1874-1938), Rosyln, Long Island, NY, USA, purchased from Cyril Andrade [1]
1939 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from the estate of Clarence H. Mackay, through Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, NY [2]
Notes:
The majority of the provenance for this object has been provided in notes prepared by the scholar Walter J. Karcheski, Jr. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted [SLAM document files].
[1] 80:1939 was part of garniture made for the Archduke Karl II of Austria for the coronation ceremony of his elder brother, King Maximilian II, as King of Hungary.
[2] The gauntlet was probably removed from the Hapsburg armory in Vienna by French forces during the Napoleonic Wars (1795-1815); it was later recorded as part of the Hermitage collection [see also Grancsay, Stephen V. "Notes on Armor of the Greenwich School." "Metropolitan Museum Studies," vol. II, part I. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 91].
[3] Around 1930, the gauntlet was acquired by the English dealer Cyril Andrade, who in turn sold it to the important arms and armor collector Clarence Mackay.
[4] Notes on the accession record and in the Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, June 8, 1939, indicate that the helmet was part of the Mackay collection, and purchased through Jacques Seligmann & Co. The gauntlet is identified in the minutes as Seligmann No. D5 122.
Archduke Karl II of Austria (1540-1590), Vienna, Austria [1]
by c.1815 - still in 1929
Imperial Russian Collection, the Hermitage, Leningrad, Russia [2]
c.1930
Cyril Andrade, England [3]
by 1930 - 1939
Clarence H. Mackay (1874-1938), Rosyln, Long Island, NY, USA, purchased from Cyril Andrade [1]
1939 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from the estate of Clarence H. Mackay, through Jacques Seligmann & Co., New York, NY [2]
Notes:
The majority of the provenance for this object has been provided in notes prepared by the scholar Walter J. Karcheski, Jr. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted [SLAM document files].
[1] 80:1939 was part of garniture made for the Archduke Karl II of Austria for the coronation ceremony of his elder brother, King Maximilian II, as King of Hungary.
[2] The gauntlet was probably removed from the Hapsburg armory in Vienna by French forces during the Napoleonic Wars (1795-1815); it was later recorded as part of the Hermitage collection [see also Grancsay, Stephen V. "Notes on Armor of the Greenwich School." "Metropolitan Museum Studies," vol. II, part I. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929. p. 91].
[3] Around 1930, the gauntlet was acquired by the English dealer Cyril Andrade, who in turn sold it to the important arms and armor collector Clarence Mackay.
[4] Notes on the accession record and in the Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, June 8, 1939, indicate that the helmet was part of the Mackay collection, and purchased through Jacques Seligmann & Co. The gauntlet is identified in the minutes as Seligmann No. D5 122.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.