Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art (482)

Carved from animal horn this eyeglass case dates to the Qing Dynasty. What appears to be the original cord allows the case to be hung on a belt...The original toggle was replaced sometime (probably in the 50's) with current blue toggle...

The doodoo was an element of Chinese woman's costume which was worn covering the chest. This one has a money pocket ant is in pristine condition. With silk embroidered flower decoration on a satin weave cotton background fabric. The back is a simple piece of somspun indigo dyed fabric

This is a charming traditional Chinese child's "wind hat" so called because of the protection the hat gives to the back of the neck. The silk threads of the satin stitched embroidery depict lots of flowers and butterflies. Hat is in good condition

Made from ox horn, and shaped into a perfectly balanced shoehorn, this antique Chinese folk art artifact serves in both form and function. There is a delicately carved design on the back. The handle part of the horn has eyes carved so that the piece takes the shape of an animal and there is a hole carved so that the shoehorn can be hung from a cord. I vaguely remember hearing that the Chinese inventing the shoehorn, but have not been able to verify this as historic fact.

During is height of popularity in the Qing Dynasty, when one went to the opera, souvenir dolls were often purchased. This pair of Chinese opera dolls is probably the oldest that I have seen. Both dolls are in fragile condition. They are mounted on separate stands which may be of the same age as the dolls. They have been together for over 100 years and I am not willing to separate them

This pair of sleeve bands is made of black cotton satin weave fabric with very delicately stitched floral motif embroidery. Each panel measures 6" x 26" with embroidered area measuring 3" x 9"

this is a large antique hand-made pair of earrings of low grade silver, lots of filigree work...Though obviously not wearable for most Westerners, the make a wonderful ethnographic, tribal arts display.

Toward the late Qing and early Republic periods, footbinding in urban centers became less common. But women were still concerned with fashionable footwear. This pair of beaded strips are actually shoes parts which would have been sewn with other matching beaded fabric parts to form a pair of beaded shoes.

By the early 1900's, foot binding fell somewhat out of fashion with the upper social classes of Han Chinese women, especially in the north. With various degrees of success and a lot of pain, a few brave women chose to have their feet re-broken and reset into a more natural size and shape. This pair of boots belonged to one such woman...

This pair of antique Chinese sleeve panels have wonderfully detailed hand embroidery of satin, seed, and couching embroidery techniques. The panels are bordered with plain silk of the period total length 21.5 x 9 inches wide

Manchu women never practiced foot-binding. However, during the Qing dynasty, they did wear pedestal aka platform shoes, hoping to give the appearance of smaller feet. These shoes would give the woman a more careful walk which was perceived as dainty and more sensual. In addition, the tips of the shoes would appear to peak out from under the robes, giving the foot more dainty appearance. These shoes are embroidered on both sides with a floral motif...

These Chinese woman's Lotus shoes are from Shanxi province and are from the mid 1800's. In Chinese culture, to have, wear or use something from an ancestor (parent, grandparent,etc) was considered as a talisman and gave an element of protection to the user. This pair of lotus shoes was passed to a younger generation whose embroidery skills were, well, not as advanced as the original maker. But clearly the child left her mark on the shoes with the added embroidery of the birds etc.

Sourced from an old estate, this pair of lotus shoes came with a hand written tag/label sewn to the back of one heel and a red paper the shape of the inner sole place inside on of the shoes. The paper is at the point flaking and disintegrating and the writing is in old Chinese and no longer readable. Because of the "tag and label, I suspect that these shoes were presented as a "gift" to a Western missionary, teacher or friend...

A properly dressed Chinese woman would wear a pair of leggings that would cover her foot bindings from her lower leg to the top of her lotus shoes. The leggings would be tied into place with a hand woven sash made specifically for that purpose. These lotus shoe accessories are now rare and very hard to find.

This pair of silk sashes were were woven with a floral pattern using 2 colors of brightly contrasting threads. The long warp end threads are braided into tassels...

These antique iron stirrups probably belonged to a low level horse soldier of the Chinese army during the Qing dynasty. They are well patinated.

This vamps of this lovely pair of Chinese Lotus shoes, aka bound feet shoes, are embroidered all around with butterflies and flowers. The soles are covered with fabric and leather...the heels are covered with leather which is nailed into place to call attention to the wearers movements when walking. Very condition ... one small rip in fabric at the back of one heel. Measures barely 4 inches.

This pair of Chinese lotus shoes were made by a woman of limited finances. She bought what materials were needed for the vamp and supplemented with the use of rough home spun fabric scraps to cover the shaped heals and soles. The limited amount of expensive gold couching threads outlining the floral embroidery pattern on each side of the shoes indicates that this pair of lotus shoes would have used only for special occasions...

This antique pair of Chinese lotus shoes were worn by a woman in He Bei Province during the end of the 1800's. Small bits of Leather are nailed to the heals because the women of that time liked the sound of the heal hitting the floor as they walked. A delicate floral motif was carefully embroidered to both sides of each shoe.

there are no rips and no tears but clearly these shoes were worn numerous times.