Pair of Model Shoes

Public Domain

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CultureEnglish

Titles

Pair of Model Shoes

Date1706

Probable placeBristol, England

MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delftware)

DimensionsEach: 4 3/4 × 6 × 2 1/2 in. (12.1 × 15.2 × 6.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg

Object numberB.59.93.1,.2

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Ceramics Study Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

CERAMICS

DescriptionDelftware is a variety of earthenware with tin oxide added to its lead glaze formula to give an opaque white effect that was often used to imitate, or at least suggest, the appearance of Chinese porcelain. First produced in England in the late 1500s, delftware grew in popularity in the 1600s as potteries flourished in London, Bristol, and elsewhere in the British Isles. Metallic oxides provided a range of colors for decoration: cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, iron for red, copper for green, and antimony for yellow. Delftware was relatively soft and chipped easily. By the mid-1700s, more durable soft-paste porcelains and salt-glazed stonewares grew in popularity; by the early 1800s, delftware production in England had declined dramatically. These delftware shoes, dated 1706, were probably a gift to celebrate an engagement or a marriage.
Provenance[A&K Embilem (sp?), by September 1959]; purchased by [Ginsburg & Levy, New York, September 1959–December 4, 1959]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1959; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Each inscribed on arch: AB / 1706

[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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