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COMMUNICATION

‘La Rivista del Guanto’ (1962-1973), published by the Associazione Nazionale Guantai Italiani (National Association of Italian Glovemakers), was a fundamental showcase for the Italian glove industry, celebrating the quality craftsmanship of leading companies in the sector, many of which were in the entire Naples province, such as Ariston, Bertona, Portolano and many others. The magazine promoted gloves as accessories, and also reflected the evolution of style trends, from elegant designs to sporty gloves, marking a change in taste and everyday practices.

The companies’ advertisements, with many pictures and graphic details, played a crucial role in consolidating the image of craftsmanship excellence and promoting the quality of Italian products.

Glovemaker classes correspondence folder 1969-1974, Italian Leather Research Institute Archive, from which the following documents were selected:

1971 Manifesto by the Italian Leather Research Institute Archive, announcing the possibility of applying in the tender addressed to ‘Glove leather cutters and glove seamstresses’

1953 Manifesto by the Italian Leather Research Institute Archive, announcing the possibility of applying in the tender addressed to ‘Glovemakers and dyers’

Advertisement request by the by the Italian Leather Research Institute Archive, on IL MATTINO newspaper of Sunday, 26 September 1971 to promote the possibility of applying in the tender addressed to ‘Glove leather cutters and glove seamstresses’

Advertising on IL MATTINO newspaper Sunday, 26 September 1971 to promote the possibility of applying in the tender addressed to ‘Glove leather cutters and glove seamstresses’

GLOVEMAKERS IN NAPLES

In Naples, tanner’s guilds were divided into ‘coirari dell’arte piccola’ (skin small art) and ‘coirari dell’arte grossa’ (hide great art). Even though we do not know when the first guild was founded, a charter by Charles V dated 13 March 1549, and concerning the confirmation of the thirty-five ‘Capitoli et ordinazioni concessi al homini et maestri coyrari della città di Napoli’ belonging to the ‘arte grossa’, refers to a previous Capitulation.

The Coirari (Tanners) were located in the area of Piazza Mercato (formerly Foro Magno), close to the city walls, where, between the Carmine and Market gates, was the gate known as the “Tannery gate”, clearly visible on Baratta’s map (1670). One hundred years later, in the Duke of Noja’s map (1775), we read: ‘Here was the ancient gate known as the Tannery, which was removed in the time of Charles III of Spain.’ We find traces of their existence in the names of places that still exist, such as ‘Vico vacche alla conceria’, while ‘Vico Conceria’ has now become ‘Via Nuova Marina’. In the Duke of Noja’s map, these places are described as follows: “This street and the surrounding alleys are home to calf leather tanning and cordwain artisans.”

In these centuries, glovemakers – who belonged to the perfumer/glovemakers guild, which in Naples manufactured scented gloves in the Arabian-Grenadian fashion style – could be found mostly on ‘Via dei Guantai Vecchi’ and ‘Via dei Guantai Nuovi’. Here, the figure of the sciosciamosche was very popular: standing in front of the fashionable shops in Via dei Guantai, he invited passers-by to buy something ‘Along the street, standing as motionless sentries in front of each shop, and not letting anyone pass through without first having stunned them with the rigmaroles they learned by heart… Missus, don’t you need anything… someone shouted to you from the sidelines […]’

Naples and glovemakers after 1804

In 1804, King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies granted Giovanni Loforte – a glovemaker originally from Palermo who had learned his trade in France – a ‘transgressive licence’, i.e. outside the provisions of the statute for the perfumer/glovemakers guild. Failing to adapt to the innovations already widespread in Europe, in 1661 the guild had become the perfumer/soapmaker guild. The saying ‘So robbe de li guantare’ (It is junk made by glove makers) means cheap and second-rate items, compared to those sold in department stores. The direction finally changed in 1804, with the establishment of the glove industry that would bring so much lustre to the city of Naples, by combining innovations from beyond the Alps with the imagination and craftsmanship that only Naples had. The art of glovemaking spread throughout the city, concentrating mainly in the neighbourhoods around Via Foria, and Via Sanità with Vico Lammatari, or further down on Via S. Antonio Abate, where it was customary to hear seamstresses and harness-makers at work, and to smell the glue made from scraps and leather processing waste, which was then used by furniture makers and gilders. The craftsmanship of the Neapolitan glovemakers came out of the guilds to expand throughout the city of Naples, where it is still alive today, with mixed successes.

Between July 1817 and the decree suppressing the guilds and corporations in 1821, an attempt was made to save at least the mutual assistance purposes of guild members, even though they had long since given up all production standards and rules, in favour of a liberalised market trend that could no longer do without the innovations widespread in other Countries. With the redevelopment of Rione San Giuseppe a Carità and the construction of Palazzo delle Poste, Via Guantai Vecchi also disappeared to make way for a new modern and functional district. The largest transformation projects that involved the City of Naples between the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century were based on the ‘Schiavoni’ map technique, named after its initiator, who drew an accurate map of the city starting in 1872. In this map, we can see the old (in yellow) and new (in blue) Vie dei Guantai.

THE FRENCH INFLUENCE

The period Napoleonic Kingdom, known in the history of southern Italy as the French Decade (1806-1815), represents a crucial moment for the glove industry in Naples. During those years, glove production underwent considerable developments, influenced by the techniques and practices of the Grenoble gantiers, who were renowned for their craftsmanship. Among the mechanical instruments, worthy of notice is the special equipment used by top-level Neapolitan glover companies, which followed in the footsteps of the great gantiers. Those included presses of various sizes for shearing materials, and several complete sets of metal gauges for glove cutting with the Jouvin, Alexandre, Josephine, Ricochet, Reynier, Dumont, Landier, Mouret and Bergery cutting systems, each with its own peculiarities, which do not differ substantially from one another.

This synergy between traditional craftsmanship and technological innovation contributed to Naples position as an important glove manufacturing hub, capable of meeting the demands of an expanding market and influencing the fashion trends of the time. The quality and variety of gloves produced during this period became a symbol of status and refinement, to the extent that Neapolitan gloves gain popularity even beyond the national borders.

Invention of gauges and mechanized cutting by Xavier Jouvin.

The invention of gauges and the mechanisation of glove cutting represent a crucial moment in the history of the production of this accessory. In 1819, the creation of hand-shaped iron dies by Vallet d’Artois paved the way for an innovation that would revolutionise the industry. However, it was Xavier Jouvin, a young medical student from Grenoble, who took this idea further and perfected it, by focusing on the way leather extends and on the hand conformation. Through his research, Jouvin developed a system of 32 gauges, each corresponding to a different glove size, and assigned a conventional number to each of them.

This initial numbering was later replaced by a more practical system, based on measurements in inches, which is still in use in the modern glove industry.

Jouvin’s work did not stop with gauges. In 1834, he filed a patent application for an even more innovative invention: the ‘iron hand’. These metal moulds were designed to cut simultaneously six pairs of gloves per gauge, thus optimising the production process. The patent was approved in 1838, and in 1839 the system was awarded a bronze medal at the Paris Industrial Exhibition, recognising the importance of the innovation it brought along. In 1849, when the use of the ‘iron hand’ became widespread, its adoption in international trade marked a significant change in the glove manufacturing sector, increasing its efficiency and standardising sizes. This technical development not only improved the quality and availability of gloves, it also represented an important step towards the mechanisation of the manufacturing industry.

Iron gauge with cutting system X. Jouvin with backlash plate

Fondo Casa del Guanto

French-made gloves manufactured in a 20th century Grenoble factory

Cimmino family private collection

French glove, black and white

Private collection, Galagloves

Manuel de Ganterie, by C. Toulouse, 1927

Fondo Biblioteca SSIP

WHITE LEATHER GLOVES

These gloves presumably belonged to a member of the Dohrn family, founded by Anton Dohrn, first Director of the Zoological Research Institute established in March 1872.

Anton Dohrn was born in Szczecin, Pomerania, part of today’s Poland, in 1840, in an upper-middle class family. He studied zoology and medicine in several German universities, albeit without much enthusiasm.

His ideals changed in the summer of 1862, when he came to Jena and met Ernst Haeckel, who introduced him to the works and theories of Charles Darwin.

Donated from the Dohrn Collection, late 19th – early 20th century

Permanent museum holdings of the Fondazione Mondragone, Naples, Museo della Moda

THE GLOVE SCHOOL

La Casa del Guanto
Students of the vocational education course for glove-makers in classrooms and workshops
Photos 1952-1958
Biblioteca SSIP Photographic Collection

In the first twenty years after its foundation, the Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli di Napoli SSIP (Italian Leather Research Institute) was a very special institution, and it complemented the aspects that trade schools and industrial institutions lacked.
Educational activities were originally limited to a few Sunday lessons for a small group of leather dyers. It was not until 1902 and the reorganisation laws that the Stazione Sperimentale Pelli acquired official recognition among the industrial and technical schools in Naples, with the task of training glove technicians and conducting research on leather tanning and dyeing.
The felt need to establish a training school for young glovemakers in Naples dates back to 1919, as it was deemed necessary to cope with the shortage of skilled labour, which caused delays and a reduction in production quality during periods of increased production. After several appeals at the national level, the first vocational education course for glovemakers was organized in 1952 by a ministerial-appointed committee and hosted on the premises of the Stazione Sperimentale Pelli.
The 8-month course included theoretical and practical training at the Research Institute and an apprenticeship period in sector companies, thus ensuring comprehensive and targeted skills.

THE GLOVE SCHOOL

La Casa del Guanto
Students of the vocational education course for glovemakers in classrooms and workshops
Photos 1952-1958
Biblioteca SSIP Photographic Collection

In the first twenty years after its foundation, the Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli di Napoli -SSIP (Italian Leather Research Institute) was a very special Institute, and it complemented the aspects that trade schools and industrial institutions lacked.
Educational activities were originally limited to a few Sunday lessons for a small group of leather dyers. It was not until 1902 and the reorganisation laws that the Stazione Sperimentale Pelli acquired official recognition among the industrial and technical schools in Naples, with the task of training glove technicians and conducting research on leather tanning and dyeing.
The felt need to establish a training school for young glovemaker in Naples dates back to 1919, as it was deemed necessary to cope with the shortage of skilled labour, which caused delays and a reduction in production quality during periods of increased production. After several appeals at the national level, the first vocational education course for glovemakers was organized in 1952 by a ministerial-appointed committee and hosted on the premises of the Stazione Sperimentale Pelli.
The 8-month course included theoretical and practical training at the Research Institute and an apprenticeship period in sector companies, thus ensuring comprehensive and targeted skills.

A RESEARCH INSTITUTE TO SUPPORT THE NEAPOLITAN GLOVE INDUSTRIES

Royal Decree establishing the “Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli – SSIP” in Naples.
Year 1885
Fondo Biblioteca SSIP

The glove industry in Naples has historically been a major production sector, and has significantly contributed to the economic well-being of the city.
However, during the 19th century, this trade faced a serious production crisis, and specific research was set in place to highlight the causes and come up with possible recovery strategies for the industry. One of the most significant analyses was carried out by Oreste Lattes, Inspector of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade.
His report, published in the “Annali dell’industria e del commercio” in 1884, under the title “Sull’industria dei guanti in Napoli e sui provvedimenti che la riguardano (About the glove making industry in Naples and the provisions concerning it)”, was based on a broad discussion between tanners, dyers, manufacturers, main workers and exporters, coming together to outline common strategies for the sector’s relaunch.
The need to support the Neapolitan glove industry was the subject of a heated debate in the Chamber of Deputies’ session of 5 March 1894. The proposals made led to the decree of February 1885, which established the “Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli (Italian Leather Research Institute)”.
The organisation set out on an intense scientific activity dedicated to leather tanning and dyeing, offering consultancy services and technical support to operators of the sector. From the early decades of the 20th century, the Research Institute underwent significant expansion, and equipped itself with state-of-the-art laboratories for chemistry, leather dyeing and the experimentation of tanning techniques.
A museum for raw and processed materials, and a specialized library – now preserved at the Pozzuoli Headquarter – were also set up.
Through these innovations, the Institute managed to react to the growing technological demands of the industry in an effective way.

A MODERN SCHOOL

In 1963, an agreement signed between the Stazione Sperimentale (Italian Leather Research Institute) and the Associazione Nazionale Guantai Italiani (Italian Glove making National Association) assigned the companies the burden of paying trainees during the apprenticeship period, with an allowance of 150 Lire, without any distinction of gender. Emoluments for teachers also complied with the principle of equality: the male teachers responsible for training the cutters and the female teachers responsible for training the seamstresses received the same salary.
These provisions take on particular significance when placed in the social and cultural context of the time, which was characterised by limited attention to the rights of working women.
The glove-making school, with its innovative and inclusive practices, established itself as a ground-breaking example of equity and progress within the educational and productive landscape of the time.

Glove Percorsi e storie di guanti a Napoli

Mostra che celebra il guanto in pelle come simbolo di eccellenza artigianale, sostenibilità e innovazione tecnologica

Scarica il catalogo

FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE ITALIAN LEATHER RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The training of glovemaker, leather dyers and glove seamstresses was an important initiative to meet the needs of the industrial and artisan classes.
They recognised the glove-making school as an effective means of training young workers in the skills needed to produce high-quality gloves. The initiative has received significant support and funding from many different institutions over time. At first, the Ministry of Industry and Trade provided the necessary support to start this educational project. Subsequently, the Ministry of Labour, Banco di Napoli and the Chamber of Commerce of Naples also contributed to the school’s funding, alongside the ISVEIMER (which stands for Istituto per lo Sviluppo Economico dell’Italia Meridionale – Public institution for the economic development of southern Italy, established by Royal Decree No. 883/3 June 1938, reorganised by Law 298/11 April 1953 and put into liquidation in 1996).
This support network highlights a historic sensitivity to investing in vocational training initiatives, to ensure quality production and the renewal of skills in this sector, which is crucial for the competitiveness of the industry.
The Board of Directors of the Banco di Napoli resolves to grant a contribution of 2,000 Lire to the “Stazione Sperimentale delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti” in Naples for propaganda expenses, for the ‘Uni-Dea’ seed stimulant initiative, considering the practical importance of this invention for Italian agriculture.

Banco di Napoli Historical Archives, Minutes of the Board of Directors’ Meeting, 15 September 1933 (p. 153)

The Board of Directors of Banco di Napoli approves the proposal to grant 500,000 Lire to the Stazione Sperimentale delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti in Naples for vocational courses for glovemakers.
Banco di Napoli Historical Archives, Minutes of the Board of Directors’ Meeting, 6 September 1951 (p. 157 bis)

The Board of Directors of the Banco di Napoli resolves to grant a contribution amounting to 500,000 Lire to the Stazione Sperimentale delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti in Naples for vocational training courses in the 1956/1957 financial year.
Banco di Napoli Historical Archives, Minutes of the Institute for the Economic Development of Southern Italy, 11 October 1951 (p. 36)

The Administrative Committee resolves to grant a ‘one-off’ contribution of 1 million Lire to the Stazione Sperimentale delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti in Naples for vocational training courses.
Banco di Napoli Historical Archives, Minutes of the Institute for the Economic Development of Southern Italy, 30 January 1953 (p. 255)

The Administrative Committee of the Banco di Napoli resolves to grant a contribution of 500,000 Lire to the Stazione Sperimentale delle Pelle e delle Materie Concianti in Naples for vocational training courses in the 1956/1957 financial year.
Banco di Napoli Historical Archives, Minutes of the Board of Directors’ Meeting, 23 January 1957 (p. 197)

/ Exhibition that celebrates the leather glove as a symbol of artisanal excellence, sustainability and technological innovation /