Recommended combination
Product description
Around the beginning of the 15th century, a new solution for hand protection emerged: the mittens. With ordinary gauntlets, the fingers were protected by small, individual pieces of steel, which were considerably more vulnerable than larger plates that covered all fingers at once. Therefore, mittens became increasingly popular in the first half of the 15th century; this type was part of what was then known as the Avant-armour.
This purple is an early execution in Maximilian style, known as the Schott-Sonnenberg type: a short-lived transitional form that did not yet have the graceful fluting of the later, classical Maximilian harnesses. The mittens are made from approximately 1.6 mm steel, case-hardened on the inside, and protect the wrist, back of hand and the basic of the fingers and thumb via hinged plates on brass rivets. A long, pointed cuff protects the forearm. Inside are riveted suede gloves with extra leather cushions at the thumb, and two leather straps per mitt provide secure fastening.
These mittens are suitable for re-enactment, living history and costume, and form a nice addition to a late medieval or early 16th-century knight's armour. They are available in one size (large) and are supplied as a purple.
