These gloves are believed to have belonged to Maister Peter Lowe, the founder of the incorporation now known as Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. They are highly decorative and are adorned with intricate metal thread embroidery. They would certainly have been expensive and fashionable items.

The embroidery work which they display is undoubtedly of a professional nature. The formal pattern of foliage, mythical animals, and cupola within arched pillars is typical of the early seventeenth century. The outlining of the fingers of the gloves with metal braid and the depth of the gauntlets suggest the date of around 1600-1610.

They may possibly have been given as a gift to symbolise loyalty and service, as was customary. The gloves were donated to the College by Mrs Hamilton Gray, the widow of the Reverend John Hamilton Gray, in 1867. Reverend John Hamilton Gray was Minister of the Parish of Carntyne and was a descendent of Maister Lowe many generations on, his family having married into the Lowe family.

Related Items
The College Library holds the first editions of Peter Lowe's two main publications, An Easie Certaine and Perfect Method to Cure and Prevent the Spanish Sickness (1596) and (1597). The College also possesses a portrait of Maister Peter Lowe.