Description:
Pair of infant's or doll's shoes with the uppers made of salmon-colored wool. The outer edges bound with linen, silk ribbon, and brown leather soles; the ties are made of the same silk. The soles have double ring stays at the toe and waist; stitched in a chanel on the edge of the rand; and the edges finished, ironed, and burnished (invisible stitches). A handwritten notes that came with the shoes reads: "Property of W.C. Root / Made in Connecticut in 1763 for his Great Grandmother Wealthy Peck Bardwell only two of her descendents being able to wear them / Mrs Nancy Horn and H.H. Root." and "Loaned by Mrs. Beatrice Alcomb? / 230 N. James St / / C?" and "Shoes Belongin to H.H. Root / 125 years Old 1888 Made in 1763." According to these pages, Elias Bardwell, the son of Samuel and Martha Bardwell, was born in Scotland on Nov. 19, 1763. Wealthy Peck (1765-1837) was the second child of Gideon Peck (b.1741/42) and Irene Tracy (1741-1768) of Norwich, Connecticut, who married in 1762. Wealthy married Elias Bardwell, and lived in Chenango County, NY, where their first son Robert was born in 1788. Wealthy Bardwell is buried in Prentiss Cemetary in Otsego County, NY. Despite the provenance, it is also possible that these shoes were part of the clothing for a doll, rather than a small child.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2001.56.1 |
