Short single man’s glove, 19th c.

Short single man’s glove, 19th century, I-Taranto. USA-Washington, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology (D.S.B.), Smithsonian Institution, USNM No. 149 395 (MS inventory 29)

Fibre beard from the collection of the NMNH, Washington DC

Short single man’s glove, 19th century, I-Taranto. USA-Washington, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Invertebrate Zoology (D.S.B.), Smithsonian Institution, USNM No. 149 395 (MS inventory 29).

Sea silk, plain right knit, length 24 cm.

In the museum catalogue of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, Dept. Mollusks vol. XXXII (recent shells/ no 149051-153700 and 134701-134800 Dec. 1896) is noted – among other shells and snails – “No. 149395 Pinna glove, Taranto Italy, received from Nashville Exp., collected by Ward, Henry”. So, this glove belongs also to the objects Ward had bought in Italy. More about it in the chapter Historical aspects → Modern times → Fairs and exhibitions → USA.

This glove is shown in: Turner, R.D. and Rosewater, J: The Family Pinnidae in the Western Atlantic, Johnsonia 3, 38, 1958, p. 291, Fig. 3.

In 2004, this glove was cleaned and restored at the Anthropology Conservation Laboratory of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The report Silk from the Sea: A Mussel Fiber Glove also discusses the preservation of sea silk objects.