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Pair of chopines

Pair of chopines

  • Place of origin:

    Venice, Italy (made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1600 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Punched kid leather and carved pine

  • Museum number:

    T.48&A-1914

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

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These chopines are made of pine-wood. The wood is covered in kid leather with punched decoration and figured silk underlay. This pair are fairly modest. More extreme versions were over 50 cms high. Chopines were based on the shoes worn at Turkish baths. They were first worn by Venetian prostitutes and fashionable Venetian aristocrats then adopted them. The chopine was originally a form of overshoe, which is why it has no back. Later versions could be worn as either overshoes or on their own.

Physical description

Chopines, very tall backless Venetian overshoes or shoes made of wood covered with punched kid leather. Fragments of coloured silk visible beneath the cut-out pattern of the uppers.

The two shoes are not identical, either in decoration or height.

Place of Origin

Venice, Italy (made)

Date

ca. 1600 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Punched kid leather and carved pine

Dimensions

[Chopine] Height: 19.5 cm at back of heel, length: 24 cm, weight: 653 g, height: 21.5 cm maximum for display, :, length: 24 cm maximum for display, width: 14.5 cm maximum for display
[Chopine] length: 23.5 cm, height: 18 cm at back of heel, :, weight: 553 g, height: 20.5 cm maximum for display, length: 23.5 cm maximum for display, width: 15.5 cm maximum for display

Historical context note

These chopines are very typically Italian. Their base are of carved pine, tapering in the middle and flaring at the base to provide greater stability. Most Italian chopines also feature notches on either side. The bases of many chopines, including this pair, are covered in white kid. The uppers are decorated with cutwork in patterns reminiscent of lace from the same period.

Descriptive line

Pair of back-less chopines of pine-wood covered with punched kid leather.

Exhibition History

On A Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels. Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto (17/11/2009-20/09/2010)

Materials

Wood; Leather

Techniques

Punching

Categories

Footwear; Fashion; Accessories

Collection code

T&F

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Qr_O74447
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