Rare, unusual and interesting antique costumes and textiles; for museums and collectors looking for that extra special piece, for new and established collectors and for those with a modest budget who want to adorn their person or home.

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Persian Riding Shoes
17th c

The Persian cavalry wore galesh, a kind of shoe with heels, in order to ensure their feet stayed in the stirrups. The rider would stand in the stirrups on a galloping horse and take aim. With this type of shoe they were secure. A not disimilar shaped lower heel can be found on a Western cowboy boot.



Extraordinary and so attractive.



Indigenous footwear is always harder to date, but what I find interesting is that those few examples that exist date to the 17th century or the very end of the 16th century, when heels were being seen in the Western world in the 1590s. Considering how leather shoes can and do survive very well I find it interesting that really early examples of Persian heeled footwear has not been found in greater numbers.



The shagreen* effect is achieved by trampling the leather with goosefoot or mustard seeds. The oils in the seeds aided the tanning process and left an indented, pebbly finish on the surface. Traditional shagreen is made using horsehide typically dyed green. Shagreen trade routes extended from Persia to Europe and Russia.



*Real shagreen is a natural hide, typically from shark, stingray or dogfish. 


Cataloguing

Of thick brown leather, probably donkey skin, the upturned toes with a little tail, the back curved down to the heel, the lower heel of metal bound with wire, the soles of dyed donkey skin, to resemble shagreen, studded with metal studs, the inside edged with shagreen, leather lined.



Approximately toe to heel 10 in; 25 cm


Condition

Remarkable. The sole studs are rusty, but all there.


Comments

A similar pair, but made from shagreen are illustrated in Shoes. Pleasure & Pain edited by Helen Persson, p 44 in the chapter by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto.



https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75922/pair-of-boots-unknown



https://collections.mfa.org/objects/127610



https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/716121.html



http://astepintothebatashoemuseum.blogspot.com/2015/02/in-conversation-with-our-conservator.html



https://images.app.goo.gl/TC2cSpKxGGLeTj2ZA



https://mrsdaffodildigresses.wordpress.com/tag/sharkskin-shoes/



https://www.shoesornoshoes.com/index.php?page=ethno_result#