Shoe, mule

One of a pair of men's mules (with A13170) made with salmon pink silk satin covered uppers decorated with embroidery and spangles. The embroidery includes representations of a thistle and Tudor rose. The toe is wide, forked and overhanging the wide forked sole. The wedged heel is 32mm high and covered with silk satin. The lining and insole are made of light brown leather and there is a pink silk heel sock.

Mules (backless shoes) were worn by both men and women during the 17th century. The design and style of mules did not differ hugely between men and women, and in this period came in identical pairs rather than with a distinct left and right shoe. The silk on this pair - in fashionable salmon pink - indicates that these would have been worn by a wealthy gentlemen as indoor or leisure wear. The forked toe was fashionable both in the earlier part of the century, and again in the 1660-1680 period. The decorative entwined rose and thistle used as decoration may be a reference to the gradual unification of England and Scotland, which started to be formalised with the accession to the English (and Irish) throne of James VI and I, who became king upon the union of English and Scottish crowns in 1603, ruling until his death in 1625. It is possible that the wearer of these shoes had a connection to the monarchy.

These shoes were donated to the London Museum by John George Joicey, a major benefactor of the museum in his lifetime, who also left the museum a fund for future acquisitions upon his death in 1919. Joicey was a collector of antiques who travelled extensively in Europe. Between 1911 and 1919 Joicey loaned and later donated a vast number of objects, including ceramics, snuff boxes, watches, silver, jewellery, clocks, embroidery, dress, prints, pistols and a sedan chair.

In 1913 Joicey travelled to Florence to source a hugely significant collection of dress for the museum. Three chests of 16th-18th century dress and accessories arrived which museum keeper Guy Francis Laking described as "not commonplace examples, but with the most magnificent embroidery and of the finest quality of material." It is possible that these shoes were part of that collection.