Hey guys. I'm trying to find more information on historical demi gauntlets. When did they first appear? How were they constructed; i.e. were they simply fingerless versions of other period gauntlets, or did they have a construction all there own? I won a pair of MercTailor demi gauntlets and was wondering what the historical basis for them was as well. And info, pictures, and references would be much appreciated. Thanks!

- JM

Josh we loosely based orus off of several 16th century examples ( ones in the Higgins, i'll have to think of which book the others in. Might be the Dresden book ). I've seen some illustrated and sculptural stuff that seems to be depicting them ealrier than that.

The plate armoured soldier in the painting at the bottom of the first post in this thread http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12809 has demis on. The painting dates to 1470-1480.

I'm not sure that painting is completely safe to take it as presented.
I think the painter is trying to portray Roman soldiers there ( the helmet for one thing makes me unsure of whether the entire suit is historic) and from numerous other paintings where this subject has been treated there has been a certain artistic license to make that point clear ( the portrayal of historic figures ).

Take the portrayal of the Huns in the Saint Ursula Shrine by Memling particularly scene 6 as a perfect example of this.

The depiction of military figures in allegorical artwork in current/moder military gear was a pretty common practice.

Figure from the Paumgartener altar piece in demis http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://up...s%3Disch:1