Source for Fingerless gloves

[Greg]

Someone shared to a viking clothing group a series of photos which included some gloves of questionable authenticity. Myself and a few others chimed in asking for sources, noting that they seemed too "Cool" to be legitimate. Someone else said they came from Assassin's creed...so I knew I wasn't alone in questioning sources.



Claims are that this display is Latvian/Baltic in origin, no timeline given.



Metropolitan Museum of Art lists these gloves as being 8th Century A.D., from the Caucasus region, which is northeast of modern-day Turkey, between the Black and Caspian seas. A little far east for Middle-Earth in Europe, but at least they exist, for you fingerless glove-ers. Some possible parallels could be drawn between other soft kit in the region and sourced Tolkienisms which would make them plausible. I don't know if I'll try my hand at these or not...I'm worried that the palm side of the reproductions will have a tendency to roll out during use, perhaps irreversibly. However, the extant example here tapers in towards the fingers, which may prevent this. Figures that the original would be made right, and the reproductions would be functionally wrong.

[Udwin]

I saw those posted as well. They're clearly fairly elite getups (so much extraneous hardware=just for $howing off!), but they're intriguing. Somewhere I saw them described as 'ancient Baltic', but the descriptions suggest they're 700s-1100s CE, so a little late for my M-E tastes.
Several points:
1) Notice the color scheme here between the undertunic, overtunic, belt, gloves, and hardware -- the whole ensemble is really only three colors (yellow (bronze), blue, and brown); it really pulls it all together cohesively. I think it's a good idea to aim for the same effect in our individual kits.
2) That blue seems REALLY blue to me. Is that color achievable using woad?
3) Like the historic Norsemen, the Northmen of Laketown/Dale did plenty of trade with Men living to the south and east (down the River Running); I wouldn't be opposed to picturing them along similar lines as these Baltic folks.
4) The gloves: those reproductions look like they would pinch (or at least have an annoying seam) right on the thumb-web. Yowch. It also looks like the artifact gloves have a band sewn around the fingers, which might help prevent stretching.

[Udwin]

Since we're looking at Norse-Baltic items. The belt in this reproduction is the same style as this one I saw at the Field Museum's 'Vikings!' exhibit last year. Always nice to see how shiny artifacts would look when new...which museums rarely let us imagine.

[Greg]

The gloves: those reproductions look like they would pinch (or at least have an annoying seam) right on the thumb-web. Yowch. It also looks like the artifact gloves have a band sewn around the fingers, which might help prevent stretching.

Yeah...there's some real form-over function in those reproductions. That hem band on the originals caught my eye too. I may give it a try...but I'll definitely be reducing the seams on the thumb web...I bet I could mimic the originals, and manage a single seam on each of the two pieces...one on the outside of the hand (in line with the little finger) and one on the knuckle-side of the thumb, not counting the seam needed to connect the thumb-piece to the glove itself.

I'm not particularly interested in these for both hands...but I'm planning on shooting my bow-in-progress off the hand, so pursuing an extant, historical glove (from just about any era, frankly) appeals to me far more than just making something up to protect the top of my left hand from fletching, a use which would support the lack of fingers, and support eliminating the seam on the inside of the hand by the index finger, to create a smoother shelf.

Totally agree on the "shiny" comment. I like a good patina as much as the next guy, but heaven knows humans in period weren't worried about their gear having a good, worn-in, aged look. They wanted their riches to look rich!

[Udwin]

Have you thought about using a very tight baseball stitch in the tricky areas? That would bring the two pieces to butt together, without the bulk of two layers.

[Greg]

Intriguing. I tend to lean towards stitches I can pull tight with supple materials, but I could give that a try on some test pieces. My only other worry would be that repeated shafts running over stitches will wear the thread out.

[Manveruon]

I don't have time at the moment to reply to the whole thread (which is fascinating in its own right, and I, too, had seen those pics elsewhere), but as for the seam on the fingerless gloves, the baseball stitch is a great solution. I have used it to excellent effect on several projects (it has actually become one of my favorite leather stitches), and the long, lace-up fingerless gauntlets I am currently making employ a baseball stitch in that same location - it is quite comfy.

[wulfgar]

What about a tunnel stitch from the inside so that there won't any exposed stitch for the fletchings to cut?

[Manveruon]

What about a tunnel stitch from the inside so that there won't any exposed stitch for the fletchings to cut?

This is also a worthwhile point. My solution to that is to stitch a small patch of heavier leather directly over the spot where the arrow will pass, to act as a sort of shelf and reinforcement for the glove itself. Otherwise the arrows wear through the regular glove leather way too fast (speaking from experience here).

[Greg]

Tunnel stitch could be insanely tedious with the sheepskin I was planning to use...but I suppose if I baseball-stitched it with a second layer over the top, I wouldn't have rubbing issues on the thread. That being said, now I have to decide how I feel about glue. Gah.

[Udwin]

There's always hide glue - period correct back to the Paleolithic! ; )

[Manveruon]

What were you debating gluing?

[Greg]

Debating the use of glue in general.

[Manveruon]

Ah, gotcha. Hell, I cheat and use glue all the time. But most of the time I just use it to reinforce something I'm already planning on stitching, etc.

[Greg]

What the heck am I whining about?

I've got plans to use hide glue to attach rawhide backing to my yew project.

I'll just shut up now.