These are just totally delightful little antique Chinese shoes or slippers. They date to the early 20th Century - probably the 1920s.
They have never been worn and are in pristine condition.
Looks like they have been stored in their original box for 100 years - sadly, the box has been made of a cheaper strawboard type of material - with decorative Chinese papers applied - and there is also the original label on the box - sadly, my Chinese is not up to me translating the text - but have photographed the old label for your inspection.
As you can see over such a long period, the box has disintegrated and it is now in quite poor condition and falling apart - but for historical reference - I have kept a hold of the original box.
However, the shoes or slippers are in excellent antique condition - there are no signs of them being worn or any wear to them. They are the sweetest wee things - the overall length of the slipper is 23 cm (9 1/4 inches) - they are very narrow in width as you might expect with Oriental shoes.
The inside is a rough beige silk or soft cotton - which a little thin padding to the sole area inside. Nice and clean with no signs of ever being on any feet.
The exterior is made of embroidered silk - in shades of Royal Blue and Turquoise. Love the wee panels running along the sides which have little embroidered birds in pink blossoms - lots of Chinese shapes and floral patterns. Pink silk edging around the tops.
Love the soles too - which are made of embossed tan leather - above the leather sole, there seem to be layers of cotton which a clear resin coating on it - and a thin blue applied band where it meets the main shoe area. The soles are rigid and do not bend - so you might have to shuffle a little bit when wearing them - which suggests that they might have a ceremonial purpose - and are shoes or slippers to be worn perhaps by a bride at a wedding.
The toe of the upper shoe section - pokes out over the end of the sole area - so designed that your toe would never touch the ground.
I have lots of images from a variety of angles for your inspection.
Probably for the more specialist collector of such items - I don't think that they would be for normal or daily wear.
I will have to post these in a slightly larger-sized box with the Royal Mail to keep the original box from getting any worse - so this would pop up your postage very slightly.
They have never been worn and are in pristine condition.
Looks like they have been stored in their original box for 100 years - sadly, the box has been made of a cheaper strawboard type of material - with decorative Chinese papers applied - and there is also the original label on the box - sadly, my Chinese is not up to me translating the text - but have photographed the old label for your inspection.
As you can see over such a long period, the box has disintegrated and it is now in quite poor condition and falling apart - but for historical reference - I have kept a hold of the original box.
However, the shoes or slippers are in excellent antique condition - there are no signs of them being worn or any wear to them. They are the sweetest wee things - the overall length of the slipper is 23 cm (9 1/4 inches) - they are very narrow in width as you might expect with Oriental shoes.
The inside is a rough beige silk or soft cotton - which a little thin padding to the sole area inside. Nice and clean with no signs of ever being on any feet.
The exterior is made of embroidered silk - in shades of Royal Blue and Turquoise. Love the wee panels running along the sides which have little embroidered birds in pink blossoms - lots of Chinese shapes and floral patterns. Pink silk edging around the tops.
Love the soles too - which are made of embossed tan leather - above the leather sole, there seem to be layers of cotton which a clear resin coating on it - and a thin blue applied band where it meets the main shoe area. The soles are rigid and do not bend - so you might have to shuffle a little bit when wearing them - which suggests that they might have a ceremonial purpose - and are shoes or slippers to be worn perhaps by a bride at a wedding.
The toe of the upper shoe section - pokes out over the end of the sole area - so designed that your toe would never touch the ground.
I have lots of images from a variety of angles for your inspection.
Probably for the more specialist collector of such items - I don't think that they would be for normal or daily wear.
I will have to post these in a slightly larger-sized box with the Royal Mail to keep the original box from getting any worse - so this would pop up your postage very slightly.