lined with mail. The greater number of examples extant belong to the early part of the XVIIth century.
If we examine one of these gauntlets in question, three points in their construction are noticeable; one is the cylindrical form of the cuff, and its smallness in circumference; the second is the manner in which the scales that protect the fingers and thumb are arranged so that they lap over one another the reverse way to that seen on ordinary gauntlets, that is from the nails towards the back of the hand, and the third is the mail lining to the left-hand gauntlet.
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Fig. 582. Left gauntlet
Italian, probably Milanese, about 1500
Collection: Sir Edward Barry, Bart.
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Fig. 583. Right gauntlet
German, about 1510. From a castle in the Bavarian Tyrol
Collection: Author
The explanation of these three peculiarities is, firstly, that the cylindrical cuff of the gauntlet was not made to fit over a vambrace of plate, but over a textile sleeve, secondly, that the unusual placing of the scales would cause the thrust of a sword or rapier point to glance up and off them, and thirdly, the mail lining protected the hand as used to parry the adversary's sword. From these peculiarities we may judge that the use of this particular form of gauntlet was relegated to the duel, and this type of gauntlet was almost exclusively Italian, as it was in Italy that the duel with the rapier and dagger was chiefly fought.
The intricate sword and rapier hilt of the latter part of the XVIth
