Gauntlets by Les Brown, circa ... well, heck if I know. B-)
I received a pair of gauntlets made by Les Brown as part of a trade, and
feel his skills should be shown off. Now, I'm no expert on armor of any
era or kind, so maybe Les will see this post and tune in for a moment to
discuss the time period these might reflect. What I can tell you all is that,
and Les can correct me if I'm fishing in the wrong lake, they're made from
18 ga. ( gauge ? ) stainless steel and medium in size ...

I think they're rather cool, B-) ...






Last edited by Matthew G.M. Korenkiewicz on Thu 21 Jun, 2007 12:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
Matt, these are 14th century "hour glass" type gauntlets ( refering to the semblence to an hour glass that the body of the gauntlet has in profile). There is a gauntlet shown in the Wisby book ( not from the grave pits but residing in a museum) that has the same "disappearing " articulating plate to which the fingers are attached, wheather this is the basis for Les for this pair I don't know. Very nicely done work ( he got great definition out of the stainless)!
Allan Senefelder wrote:
Matt, these are 14th century "hour glass" type gauntlets ( refering to the semblence to an hour glass that the body of the gauntlet has in profile). There is a gauntlet shown in the Wisby book ( not from the grave pits but residing in a museum) that has the same "disappearing " articulating plate to which the fingers are attached, wheather this is the basis for Les for this pair I don't know. Very nicely done work ( he got great definition out of the stainless)!


Most hourglass-style gauntlets had that plate, although few have survived; you can usually find the rivet holes for them even when the plate and fingers are missing. The human hand increases in circumfrance as you close it into a fist (as you do when you wrap it around a hilt, for example) and that extra plate allows for that without stretching the finger leathers out of shape.
Very NICE!! :surprised:
I don't think Les comes on this forum or at least not frequently. He did a batch of gauntlets in 18ga stainless after suggestions from several people including myself. He had a bugger of a time tinkering with the knuckle plate. Les made several prototypes that blended the classic hourglass and some Wisby elements. He's making useful gauntlets for modern sword play not replicas of museum artefacts and readily admits it. :)

He'll be pleased that you like them. :cool:
Kel Rekuta wrote:
I don't think Les comes on this forum or at least not frequently. He did a batch of gauntlets in 18ga stainless after suggestions from several people including myself. He had a bugger of a time tinkering with the knuckle plate. Les made several prototypes that blended the classic hourglass and some Wisby elements. He's making useful gauntlets for modern sword play not replicas of museum artefacts and readily admits it. :)

He'll be pleased that you like them. :cool:


Thanks, gentlemen ! Kel, I admit I didn't get into any extended discussions about the gauntlets with
Mr. Brown with regards to history or styles. My immediate intention was to try and resell the gaunts, but
they might not match anyone's " historic kits " -- according to what you post. Even so, they certainly would
make dandy protective mits for modern sword-play / sparring and if they don't resell all that fast, I'd
not be against having them in my collection. B-)
Yes they look very nice and also practical for bouting. As far as historical accuracy they might be a little " soft " in detail accuracy but I'm not expert enough to detail what they might be.

Depending on one's needs the historical accuracy might be sufficient or irrelevant ?

Someone with a very accurate kit might still appreciate a using set for training.
14th century hourglass gauntlets
These were made with a lot of help from the senior instructors at AEMMA [Kel , Brian] in Toronto . The carpul and cuff are 16 gauge , the finger gadlings are 18 gauge , all stainless steel . I attempted to make most of the parts close to existing historic examples but I have "borrowed" from a few different styles as Kel has stated . These were made to be "stock appearing" while giving some extra protection [thicker material , knuckle rider] Again , these are not made as museum replicas , they are for fighting . I'm quite new to this and am always looking for ways to improve. All comments were appreciated . Les the "amateur armourer"


 Attachment: 73.6 KB
new armour 012.jpg

Re: 14th century hourglass gauntlets
Les Brown wrote:
These were made with a lot of help from the senior instructors at AEMMA [Kel , Brian] in Toronto . The carpul and cuff are 16 gauge , the finger gadlings are 18 gauge , all stainless steel . I attempted to make most of the parts close to existing historic examples but I have "borrowed" from a few different styles as Kel has stated . These were made to be "stock appearing" while giving some extra protection [thicker material , knuckle rider] Again , these are not made as museum replicas , they are for fighting . I'm quite new to this and am always looking for ways to improve. All comments were appreciated . Les the "amateur armourer"


Hi Les,

I think you're doing a great thing by learning to make armor, and the medieval community--both reenactors and WMA folks--need a source for good gauntlets.

I would suggest, however, that your statement "these are not made as museum replicas, they are for fighting" betrays an approach that is likely to be counterproductive. In fact, the more like museum replicas they are the better they'll be for fighting, both because they'll work better (medieval armorers knew what they were doing) and because they'll work the same way medieval gauntlets did (meaning you can't do more or less than you could in a real medieval gauntlet), thus driving the wearer to use authentic technique.
I'd like to thank Les Brown for stopping by and adding his post, and clearing up a
few details. I can certainly see these mits being used for sparring.

Page 1 of 1

Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum




All contents © Copyright 2003-2006 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Full-featured Version of the forum