Shoe, one of a pair, embroidered silk satin, wooden heel, China, 1800–75

Pair of Manchu horse-hoof shoes for women of high-ranking families in white silk satin upper embroidered with butterflies in green, blue and beige silk thread, and edged with black silk satin.Vertical seams at toe had leather strip and loose blue silk thread stitched together inserted to hold the shape. The bottom of the shoe is most likely padded with layers of cotton to prevent jarring when walking. Its tall wooden heel has a slightly curved ‘horse-hoof’ ('mati' ?? ) shape with hemp-covered sole.

“Womenfolk of the ruling Manchus did not bind their feet, instead those in high-ranking families wore a special shoe, exaggeratedly elevated, with a concave heel in the centre of the instep. As well as imitating the swaying gait caused by bound feet it also made them tower over the diminutive Chinese: “…the shoes stand upon a sole of four or six inches (10-15cm) in height or even more. These soles, which consist of a wooden frame upon which white cotton cloth is stretched, are quite thin from the toe and heel to about the centre of the foot, when they curve abruptly downwards, forming a base of 2 or 3 inches square (5-8cm). In use they are exceedingly inconvenient, but….they show the well-to-do position of the wearer. The Manchus are…a taller…race than the Chinese, and the artificial increase to the height afforded by these shoes gives them at time almost startling proportions.” (Garrett, 135-137)

According to Garrett, the exaggeratedly elevated shoe with a concave heel in the centre of the instep and how only the toe is showed when worn is meant to give the illusion of smallness but without the pain and discomfort associated with bound feet.

On display in the V&A exhibition, Shoes: Pleasure and Pain between 13 June 2015 – 31 January 2016.

Historically, being tall and having small feet was considered attractive in China. Manchu women did not bind their feet, and their footwear is distinct from the tiny shoes worn by Han women. Instead, women from the high-ranking families wore exaggeratedly elevated shoes to create the illusion of smaller feet: the higher the base, the smaller the foot would appear. Here, the carved platform, nearly 13 cm (5 in.) high, is balanced on a smaller base. This style is known as huapandi, or matidi, because the platforms resemble a Chinese flowerpot or horseshoe. The increase in height also gave women the appearance of a slender silhouettes and an attractive gait.
The uppers of Manchu women’s shoes were always lavishly decorated with auspicious designs in delicate embroidery, which would be executed before the shoe was assembled. Pattern books or paper patterns were available from specialist shops or itinerant vendors. Here, the red silk is adorned with bulge-eyed goldfish and water weeds. The Chinese word for goldfish, jinyu , is a homophone for ‘gold and jade’, and can be read as jin yu man tang ('may gold and jade fill your hall’).

FE.71:2-2014