title: Throwing down the gauntlet: 'iron hands' and the sixteenth century armourer.
abstract: The work of sixteenth century 'medical armourers' in the manufacture of iron hands based on skills developed in the manufacture of armoured gauntlets is briefly explored. In order to illustrate their form and function, reference is made to an iron hand in the collection of the British Museum and a comparison is made with another example manufactured around the same period.
authors.affiliation: Northamptonshire Heartland Primary Care Trust, Kettering General Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grimshaw
mesh_terms: D001186:Artificial Limbs / Q000266:history*; D006225:Hand; D049669:History, 16th Century; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000266:history; D011474:Prosthesis Design / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D007501:Iron