Shoe

Pair of slap-soled shoes in white kid with floral motif embroidered in silk thread on vamp; brown leather sole; straps cross over front of foot to form closure. Sole attached at front and heel. Small fragments of silk fabric remain on shoe suggesting uppers may have once been covered or at least the edges bound in fabric. The slap-soled women's shoe style evolved from men wearing flat-soled mules over their heeled riding shoes in the early 1600s. This style was popular in Europe in the 1660s-1680s.

These shoes came to the London Museum in 1911 as part of a large collection of historic costumes purchased from the painter (John) Seymour Lucas. This was a key acquisition in the early days of the organisation, and the starting point of the Dress & Textile collection. Lucas was interested in collecting historical objects, particularly costume and armour, and used them as props for his genre paintings and portraits. The Metropolitan Museum of Art offered him a larger sum for the collection, but he sold it to the London Museum for £1000. This perhaps reflects his good friendship with the London Museum keeper, Guy Francis Laking.