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 fragment of a German gauntlet of about 1470 which is in the author's collection (Fig. 579). The gauntlets which form part of the equestrian suit (No. 620, Fig. 580) in the Wallace Collection, though of comparatively modern workmanship, afford a good illustration of what the fingered variety of this type was like. The composite Gothic suits exhibited in the Tower of London show certain gauntlets of this form that may be considered partly old, but they have been subjected to modern restoration. The gauntlets of the so-called "Gothic" suits in Windsor Castle are similar examples and open to the same criticism.

Probably German, about 1470

No. 28, Wallace Collection

French, or made by Italian armourers in the French fashion, about 1480

No. 29, Wallace Collection

To illustrate the extent to which decoration by tracery of Gothic character was carried on certain specimens of late XVth century date we would point to the wonderful gauntlets which are preserved in the Royal Armoury, Madrid, E 88 and 89 (Fig. 581), and which used to be in the armoury of the Emperor Charles V. From their early date and from the fact that they are described in the Relacion de Valladolid as what we might translate "old stuff," it is probable that they were never worn by Charles V; most likely they were part of a fine suit, now lost, that may have belonged to his father, Philip I,