Antique Pair of shoes in glazed wool twill Bleu de France - Louis XVI Circa 1780

Circa 1935 England Rare pair of shoes in leather for collection signed François Pinet, famous luxury bootmaker in Paris and London and dating from the 1930s. These shoes were accompanied by a Bordeaux Haute Couture Dress by Nicole Groult...

Circa 1790/1820 France Beautiful collectible pair of Orientalist mules shoes dating from the early nineteenth century. Square-tipped upper in fawn leather embroidered with tulips i...

1980s French antique handmade miniature shoe made of silk and fabric Atelier Jean Claude.

These dainty, pointed slippers, made of cotton and silk embroidered with pink flowers, were shaped to resemble a lotus bud and enhanced the diminutive shape of bound feet. A practice that began in the Tang dynasty and reached the height of its popularity in the Qing dynasty, foot binding was a painful process intended to make a woman's feet as small as possible by restricting bone growth from an early age. The smaller the feet the more attractive and erotic they were, giving elite women a mark of elegance and a distinctive - albeit tortured - gait of small, light steps. These silk lotus slippers...