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18th Century Women’s Leather Gloves

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Additional Resources

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Of the Glover, The London Tradesman (1747)

Gantier, The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d’Alambert (1765)

Sew 18th Century: Gloves please!

Fur and Leather Garments in 18th and 19th Century New England

Gloves and Glove-making

Make Your Own Gloves

Last updated: Jan 7, 2024

See also 18th century ladies’ mitts, as well as pages on men’s leather gloves, mittens, knit gloves, and medieval and Renaissance gloves.

Embroidered leather gloves

  • Workshopful Company of Glovers of London 23437, white kid leather embroidered in silk with a yellow and red bird, silk pom-poms on the knuckles, c. 1700
  • Met 2009.300.6120a, b, embroidered with a bird design in metallic threads, Britain, early 18th century
  • Met 2009.300.6121a, b, early 18th century, probably Spain
  • Worshipful Company of Glovers of London 23434 + A, “a pair of pale yellow long gloves, circa 1700-1710, of kid leather suede side uppermost, slightly flaring openings, the hand and thumb sections embroidered overall with scrolling flowerheads, three blue pom-poms to the knuckles”
  • V&A T.48:1,2-2015, white kid leather gloves embroidered with a floral design in silk, with seams outlined in pink silk herringbone stitch, made in England c. 1760-1790
  • Met C.I.40.142.2a, b, leather gloves with metal thread embroidery, Britain, c. 1780
  • V&A T.293&A-1965, yellow elbow-length kid leather gloves with white silk embroidered lines, Ireland, 1796
  • MFA 38.1276a-b, cream-colored leather gloves embroidered in silks with scrolls, flowers, and foliage, Italy or France, late 18th century
  • Met 23.220.1, leather gloves with silk embroidery of a woman on the back of each hand, Britain, late 18th century

Gloves with lace trimming

Printed leather gloves

  • Worshipful Company of Glovers of London 23441 + A, a pair of elbow-length doeskin leather gloves, “each printed with oval medallions containing a romanticised depiction of a shepherdess within folate and ribbon swags, printed ‘bracelet’ composed of a neo-classical urn ‘mount’ on a band of delicate berries and foliage,” c. 1785-1795
  • MFA 43.1980a-b, white kid gloves printed in black and painted in red, yellow, and blue with designs of a Cupid with a woman in a chariot drawn by birds and a decorative border on the cuff, Spain, c. 1790-1810
  • Worshipful Company of Glovers of London 23430, “white printed leather ladies’ glove, grain side out, Spanish, circa 1790-1800, printed with horizontal stripes of neo-classical motifs, fine copper plate engravings, the cuff with star shaped punched holes and pinked scallop edging”
  • MFA 43.1986a-b, white kid leather gloves printed with bands of classical ornament in black, Spain, c. 1790-1810
  • MFA 38.1237a-b, white kid leather gloves printed with bands of classical ornament in black, Spain, c. 1790-1810
  • Manchester 1976.89, white kid leather gloves with horizontal bands in black with stylized motifs of flowers, cornucopias, anchors, and couchant lions, c. 1800-1810
  • MFA 38.1257a-b, cream white leather gloves with a printed design (museum’s description seems to be faulty)
  • MFA 43.1991, white kid leather glove printed in black, Spain, c. 1790-1810
  • MFA 38.1267a-b, pair of white printed leather gloves, Spain, late 18th century
  • V&A T.169&A-1922, wrist-length yellow kid gloves printed in a lozenge pattern with carnival and rustic figures alternating with flowers and birds, Spain, c. 1800
  • Met 2009.300.2259a, b, Spain, c. 1800-1810; “Fashioned from fine Spanish kid, these gloves embody high fashion with a double historical twist. The lattice pattern expresses the geometry of the newly-resurrected design vocabulary of the classical period, while the figures at the top are taken from a series of etchings by Jacques Callot titled Varie Figure Gobbi (Various Hunchbacked Figures) ca. 1622., which William Konig (active ca. 1721) interpreted in prints.”
  • Cora Ginsburg 2001, Spanish, c. 1800; “Printed on the hand is an assortment of flora, fauna, and Chinoiserie figures enclosed in a diamond grid. The pinked and scalloped cuffs are bordered with grotesques derived from prints by William Konig (active ca. 1721), based in turn on a series of etchings by Jacques Callot (1592-1635) entitled Varie Figure Gobbi (Various Hunchbacked Figures) of about 1622. The flageolet player, for example, is recognizable from amongst Callot’s misshapen dwarfs.”

Other leather gloves

  • Met 26.56.93, plain leather gloves, Italy, late 18th century
  • Met 26.56.95, striped leather gloves, Italy, late 18th century
  • Met 26.56.97, striped leather gloves, Italy, late 18th or early 19th century
  • Met 26.56.101, blue leather gloves with striped design, Italy, late 18th or early 19th century

Portraits and illustrations

Some of these gloves may be silk rather than leather.