Five 16th century gauntlets from The Met’s Arms and Armor collection

Model maker, Mythbuster, and Tested editor-in-chief Adam Savage has a healthy obsession with historical armor—he’s even made his own full suit of armor—but he’s never held a real gauntlet from history… until this March 2023 video.

During his visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Arms and Armor conservation lab, Savage meets with armorer and conservator Ted Hunter to get an up-close, hands-on look at five 16th century gauntlets. Hunter explains:

“I couldn’t take anything off the armors that are on display, so this is what’s in storage, and I found kind of an interesting sample. They’re all sort of within a 50-60 year period.”

Pieces include a German mitten-style gauntlet, an Italian dueling gauntlet made of dozens of separate pieces, an acid-etched German gauntlet with mercury and gold gilding, a similarly ornate Italian gauntlet, and finally, a German locking gauntlet with some additional engineering built into it.

Find similar mitten gauntlets, dueling gauntlets, and locking gauntlets in The Met’s online collections. Highlights include Hungarian gauntlets of mail, British gauntlets, Japanese gauntlets, and a gauntlet sword from India.

Watch these related videos on TKSST next:
• Dressing in late 14th century armor
• Combat demonstrations in 15th century suits of armor
• Toledo, the Spanish City of Swords
• Elephants of War: Elephant armor (bargustavan-i-pil) from India, circa 1600

Bonus: What can you make with CalTech’s smart chain mail?