Rare and precious Gloves

Represented on the walls of a Palaeolithic cave dating from 27 000 years BC, the first gloves go back a long way. They were then the symbol of religious power, in the same way as the mitre and the stick of the bishops before becoming the insignia of royal decisions.

Of course this exhibition shows the know-how and the work, of the cleaning, tanning, smoothing, and brushing. Knowing that the glove is also made in linen, wool or silk, adorned with precious stones and fur.

In Grenoble, craftsmen have invented everything around the glove. The "punch calibres" and "the iron hand" of Xavier Jouvin in 1834, permitted the industrialization of the profession. Jean Strazzeri, Best Worker in France, in La Maison Lesdiguières Barnier in Grenoble has loaned four pairs of rare gloves alone.

Among the spectacular curiosities of the exhibition, we shall quote the oldest one, a pair of silk mitts knit in the 15^th century and a pair of lady's gloves with cuffs, very richly decorated and very well kept dating from the 17^th century. Beside the gloves of Buffalo Bill!

Anne of Austria possessed 347 pairs and Joséphine never wore the same twice! But the glove is not just a decoration. In very fine latex, it protects the hands of surgeons and scientific police experts. Fireproofed, they protect the hands of fire brigades and the leather balls those of boxers. The famous glove of Michaël Jackson was sold for 34200 euros by auction. Impossible to see it in the exhibition, it is still who knows where?!