Gloves have ancient origins, their use, in fact, was already known to the populations of ancient Egypt, as evidenced by the discovery of this particular accessory in the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, and the ancient Greeks, Romans and Lombards used gloves above all as prestige statement. Their initial shape seems to have been very different from the one we know, as the gloves consisted of simple bags to be tied to the wrists, without separations for the fingers. Later, the thumb was separated and, still later in time, separations were inserted for all the fingers, and the gloves became a real ornament, as well as a useful protective accessory.
In the Middle Ages their use was widespread among the highest social classes with a typology corresponding to the different ranks, so that the nobles mostly wore velvet gloves, enriched with precious ornaments, while it is known that the knights used knitted gloves steel to protect their hands during the bloody fights that it was their duty to face. During this period the glove takes on a symbolic value so much so that it is used in the investitures of feudal lords, in the consecration of bishops and also as a sign of challenge. But it is above all in France that the use of gloves becomes a real and highly sought-after clothing accessory, for both men and women and the gloves used by the king’s guards, known as the musketeer, were very fashionable.
But if in 1600 France was recognized as having the best glove workmanship, in the following century, the art of gloves was also widespread in Italy, it is precisely in Naples that it begins to reach a high level of workmanship and beauty.
Since then, Neapolitan glove making acquired a predominant role across the border in the production of gloves, especially in leather, which it continued to maintain in the following centuries and again in the 1960s, when, as many Neapolitans will remember, in ancient Naples, in areas such as the Sanità, Capodimonte just to name a few, many Neapolitan families were dedicated to the manufacture of gloves intended not only for the domestic market but also to satisfy the ever-higher demand of foreign markets.
Even today, Naples continues to be a particularly significant international reality in the field of glove making in terms of the number of companies and the quality of the product and this is certainly due to the mastery of our glove-making craftsmen who, with their skill and their indisputable talent , continue to preserve this ancient art, certainly proud to be able to pass it on to young Neapolitans who intend to learn the techniques and skilful dexterity of the art of gloves.
Luciana Bronzino
Handicraft Service Manager
“City and Consumption”, number 10, August 2010 – http://www.comune.napoli.it
