Slippers

This pair of shoes comes from a group which includes a number of important early shoes given by Mrs. Clarence Hyde. Although the circumstances are not known, their collector was obviously serious in her pursuit of fine and rare examples, as the collection includes a superb chopine (2009.300.1408), a pair of slippers allegedly worn by Marie Antoinette (28.102.6 a-b), a pair of men's shoes with an artistic pedigree (2009.300.3421a, b), along with many other fine 18th century shoes. The origin of this extremely unusual example is undocumented, but the general style and construction support a date from sometime around 1700. The decorative technique of metal-wrapped threads and robust motifs suggest Iberian, Italian, or possibly even Spanish-colonial manufacture.