Pair of short man’s gloves, 19th c.

Pair of short man’s gloves, 19th century, I-Taranto. I-Firenze, Museo Zoologico La Specola, Mag. 497 (6.772) (MS Inventory 42).

Sea silk, plain right knit, three patterned rows on the back of the hand to the base of the fingers; thumb, index and middle finger of the right hand open; small holes at the fingertips; traces of earlier restorations

Original label: Mag. 497 (6.772) Pinna nobilis (…) Taranto. Guanti fatti col pelo di nacchera. Viaggio Targioni 1868.

These gloves were bought in 1868 together with the two ties (MS Inventory 44 and 45) by the entomologist Adolfo Targioni Tozzetti (1823-1902) in Taranto. His collection later became part of the La Specola Museum in Florence. You find more about it in the chapter Historical aspects → Modern times → Chambers of Wonder and → Production and Trade → Puglia.