Shoes

Description:

Light blue satin pair of shoes with almond toe, high vamp, and short heels, trimmed extensively with bands of silver braid. The front has an unusual trim of two crossed bands over a high instep tongue decorated in a knot pattern that require separate shoe buckles. Both are lined with rose and green striped silk over a plain linen base. The pegged construction of the curved Louis heels is typical for the period.

Inside one shoe is a maker's label for the cordwainer shop of the Hose family, run by John Hose, his son Thomas, and then his grandson Thomas Jr. from c. 1730 - 1797, which produced fine shoes in London as well as for export to the American colonies. Eliza Lucas Pinckney lived in London during her teen years and again in her early thirties, so she may have been familiar with the Hose shop. She was living in South Carolina in the 1770s, and likely had this pair imported.

• Date: c. 1770
• Dimensions: H-2.8 W-2.56 L-6.75 inches
• Makers Mark: label: "Made by / Thos. Hose / Shoemaker No.__ / Lombard Street / London"

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• Collection: Costume Collection
• Object Name: Shoes
• Object Id: HT 4033a-b

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  • Shoes