Shoe

Gold leather evening shoes with grey kid lining and brown leather insole. The Louis heels are decorated with small diamantes and gold beads in geometric pattern. These shoes were made for the so-called Countess Mena Hamon, wife of Cheiro, a fashionable Society palm reader by the 'high class shoemaker' Ignazio Pluchino.

Ignazio Pluchino was born in Sicily and moved to London in 1900 where he established a successful shoemaking business at 83 Walton Street, London SW3. Ignazio and, later his son John, made beautiful, bespoke shoes for wealthy clients. Each pair of shoes was hand made to fit the client, who had a personal cast made from which the shoemaker could work. It took three days, working long hours, to make one pair of shoes. Ignazio and John made most of the shoes but occasionally they took on extra workers, who were always Italian.