Shoe
ca. 300-700 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A brown leather shoe, ca. AD 300-700 (propbably). Egyptian. Made using the turned technique. Decorated with openwork floral designs. This shoe was acquired from H. Wallis Esq.
Coptic footwear was generally made of leather, primarily using the turned technique to produce a slipper or shoe with a straight sole. Slippers often included a rand at the vamp and a fibre padded sole sewn together with prominent stitching or insole tab. They show variation in the form and height of the instep. Shoes were generally slip-ons and also show variation in the form and height of the instep. Footwear was highly decorated in geometric and floral designs. Often a variety of techniques were used in combination with the most popular being dyeing, gilding, openwork and appliqué.
Coptic footwear was generally made of leather, primarily using the turned technique to produce a slipper or shoe with a straight sole. Slippers often included a rand at the vamp and a fibre padded sole sewn together with prominent stitching or insole tab. They show variation in the form and height of the instep. Shoes were generally slip-ons and also show variation in the form and height of the instep. Footwear was highly decorated in geometric and floral designs. Often a variety of techniques were used in combination with the most popular being dyeing, gilding, openwork and appliqué.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Tanned leather decorated with dye and openwork. |
| Brief description | A brown leather shoe, ca. AD 300-700, Egyptian, Akhmim (probably); Decorated with openwork floral designs. |
| Physical description | A flat shoe of brown leather. Turned technique with rand (1mm wide). Egyptian, ca. AD 300-700 (probably). Poor condition. Semi-pointed toe and round heel. Sole: Straight but possibly for left. Worn. Large part of tread missing. Dirt over seat. Small holes at seat and forepart. Upper: One piece. Vamp decorated with openwork floral design including central vertical row of interlacing waves. Layer beneath of brown leather. Between the background layer and the inner leather of the vamp is a layer of compacted papyrus. Edge of vamp (above rand) has a strip of bplain brown leather (24mm at toe; 7mm at waist; 20mm at heel) around the shoe. Topband (stitched with running stitch as is all the openwork) approx. 10mm, which comes to a point over the instep (high throat) and ends in an oval knop. Quarters have cut-out spirals beneath topband and are cut on a slight diagonal down from heel to vamp wing. Backseam no longer stitched together. Heel has a vertical line sewn 10mm out from either side of the seam. Small piece of fibre cord used to sew sole to rand/upper is separate and is 1mm in diameter and brown. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Objects 2-1888 to 9-1888 bought together for £12, from Henry Wallis. |
| Association | |
| Summary | A brown leather shoe, ca. AD 300-700 (propbably). Egyptian. Made using the turned technique. Decorated with openwork floral designs. This shoe was acquired from H. Wallis Esq. Coptic footwear was generally made of leather, primarily using the turned technique to produce a slipper or shoe with a straight sole. Slippers often included a rand at the vamp and a fibre padded sole sewn together with prominent stitching or insole tab. They show variation in the form and height of the instep. Shoes were generally slip-ons and also show variation in the form and height of the instep. Footwear was highly decorated in geometric and floral designs. Often a variety of techniques were used in combination with the most popular being dyeing, gilding, openwork and appliqué. |
| Bibliographic reference | See R. Smalley, "Dating Coptic Footwear: A Typological and Comparative Approach", Journal of Coptic Studies 14 (2012): 97-135 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 5-1888 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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