Description:
Pair of woman's pink leather slippers or pumps with pink leather uppers, linen linings, and leather soldes, which have a Boston label in one shoe, "PELATIAH REA'S / Variety Shoe Store, / NO. 2, Northwest corner of the old / State House, / BOSTON./ Rips mended gratis." Early 19th-century fashion experienced a radical change in both clothing and footwear. Within the first decade, women’s shoes were made with a rounded toe and an extremely short vamp (the area covering the front top part of the foot). Forgoing a strap over the throat, or open area of the shoe, Boston shoemaker Peletiah Rea looked backwards to the 18th century and chose a tied latchet for fastening. Made with an extremely low heel known as a spring heel, these shoes were constructed with a thin insertion of leather between the sole and the upper. Rea, who was likely the merchant who sold these shoes, rather than the maker or manufacturer, may be the same man from Boston (b.1771) who married Patty Rolf in 1795, and Emily Powers in 1821. Historic Deerfield owns another, earlier pair of shoes with Rea's label; see 2021.9.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2001.36 |
