1800-1820 ca. Pair of Gloves, Probably Spanish.

1800-1820 ca.  Woman’s Gloves, Spanish. Repeating pattern of concentric ovals across fingers shows their high quality and workmanship. Scalloped, pierced, pinked edges of cuff have geometric elements with floral garlands. Scene of gentleman presenting a gift to a young seated woman. European etiquette allowed a woman to receive gloves as a gift from men other than her husband so gloves were carefully chosen for their novelty. Spain produced high quality printed leather gloves using intaglio process. via Cooper Hewitt, New York City, USA. collection.cooperhewitt.org

Now surviving in museum collections throughout Europe and North America, this style of glove must have been a brief, but very popular fad of the last years of the 18th century. As gloves were one of the few gifts a man could give to a single woman he was not engaged to marry, new designs and colours were eagerly sought after to provide variety in this staple form of present.

Printed kidskin gloves of this type were fashionable from the last decade of the 18th century until the 1820s. They were suitable for wearing with the long sleeved day dresses which women adopted in the last decade of the century. Long gloves continued to be required for court dress which retained its short sleeves. By this date many European countries were manufacturing gloves, both in leather and in woven or knitted textiles made of silk, cotton, linen or wool.
Printed kidskin was used for gloves and for the backing for fans. English fan makers were printing on leather before 1720. The intaglio method of printing used a copper plate. The design was engraved with a buril or dry point into the plate, then the plate was immersed in ink and the leather placed on it in a screw press. Several different pairs of gloves could be printed at a time and if the pattern wore off with use, they could be reprinted.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.