Shoe
Date1740-1760 (possibly altered later)
MediumChinese Export Silk Damask; Linen (Lining); Silk (Lining); Leather (Sole); Silk Threads (Construction)
DimensionsLength: 10"; Height: 5 1/4; Width: 3"; Heel Height: 2 1/2"
Credit LineGift of The Metropolital Museum of Art, Costume Institute.
Object number1993-126,1
DescriptionWoman's shoe, one of pair, made of salmon and yellow-beige silk damask in large floral pattern, bound around the edges with yellow silk tape. Shoe has pointed and slightly upturned toe and 2 1/2"-high heel, curved and shaped. The shoe has a high, square tongue over which short, rounded latchets with single eyelets edged in green thread extend. Intended to be tied closed. At the center of the tongue, between the two latchets is a loop of pink silk braid, possibly where the ties would be bound. Linings of natural brown tabby linen throughout shoe interior and salmon silk lining on tongue. Leather sole and white rand. Construction History:
1. 1740-1760: Initial construction of fabric. Characteristic holes in the selvage of the silk gown (1985-143, 1+2) is evidence of a temple bar used in the weaving of Chinese silks, indicating the fabric's origins in China before being exported to the West.
2. 1740-1760: Initial Construction of shoes
3. Unknown Date: Repairs in a pink, 2-ply yarn were made and the loop on shoe tongue in between the latchets was added in the same yarn.
4. It is possible there was once an additional piece of fabric running the vertical length of the vamp that has since been removed as evidenced by remains of stitching in red silk thread, scars from stitch holes, and fabric remains at the toe of each shoe.
Label TextThese shoes match a woman's gown and two pocketbooks of the same imported Chinese silk damask (see Accession Numbers 1985-143, 1993-127, and 1993-128.) The gown, shoes, and pocketbooks were apparently worn in New York by the same woman.
InscribedHand-written label on twill tap tape sewn to the lining, reading "Mrs. J. L. Newman/No 3 Lodge St."
ProvenanceThese shoes match a woman's gown and two pocketbooks of the same imported Chinese silk damask (see Accession Numbers 1985-143, 1993-127, and 1993-128.) The gown, shoes, and pocketbooks were apparently worn in New York by the same woman in the 18th century and likely in the 20th century by a descendant of the family.
The original owner of the ensemble is listed as Mary Lynch, but the geneological information aligns with a woman names Maria Lents (it is likely simply a misreading or misspelling). She was baptised approximately 1709 and is said to have descended from the 1730-1731 acting governor of the New York colony, Rip Van Dam. Although this is unsubstantiated, she was certainly married to an Egbert Benjamin Egberts. They married in 1740, lived in Albany, owned property in New York City, and had four children. Her death date is unknown but at the time of Egberts' will in 1760 she was still living. A mourning locket in the New York Historical Society attributed to the Egberts family lists Egbert Egberts' death date as 1771 and Maria Lents' as 1784.
