Glove
Date1775-1800
MediumWhite kid leather, linen thread
DimensionsLength: 17 1/2" Width: 3"
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Cora Ginsburg
Object number1990-8,1
DescriptionPair of women's white, elbow-length kid gloves with open, pinked fingertips, and slight flare at the elbow opening. The gloves are unlined. They are constructed with one long seam along their outside edge, and have an inset for the thumb with a circular base to allow for greater movement. Gloves have 3 rows of decorative stitching across the back of the hands, over the knuckles. A triangular piece (measuring 3 1/4" in width and 3" in length) is added to complete the flare of the glove at the elbow. All stitching has been done with white thread. All seams and the decorative stitching have been worked in whip stitches at 18 per inch. The tags and the red string have been attached with uneven basting stitches.Label TextWoman's Gloves
Britain, worn in Albany, New York, by Ann Van Rensselaer, 1775-1800
Leather
G1990-8, gift of Mrs. Cora Ginsburg
These gloves have open fingertips, a construction technique seen in Encyclopédie, an eighteenth-century French publication by Denis Diderot. Although the function of the open fingertips is not known, they may have improved dexterity for the wearer.
ProvenanceDescended in Van Rensselaer family, and possibly worn by Anne Van Renssalaer (1766-1855) of New York, during the late eighteenth century. Probably descended to Anne Van Renssalaer Wells, who was born c. 1821, and married Hon. Alexander Wells, State Supreme Court Justice from California. She died in 1919.
