Pair of Chinese Bound-Foot Women's Shoes and a Red Lacquered Box, Late Qing to Republic period. The small embroidered silk shoes, with their sharply tapered form and elevated soles, are characteristic of footwear made for bound feet, reflecting the historical practice of footbinding. Delicately decorated with floral motifs, they exemplify both the refinement and the constraints associated with this tradition, in which the idealized “three-inch golden lotus” shaped standards of beauty and social identity while limiting women’s mobility.

The accompanying circular lacquered box is decorated with incised and painted motifs of peony blossoms and a bird, framed by a key-fret border. The peony, symbolizing wealth and honor, combined with avian imagery, conveys auspicious wishes and complements the intimate, domestic context of the shoes.

Together, these objects offer insight into gender, aesthetics, and daily life in late imperial China, embodying both decorative elegance and complex cultural meanings.

{Shoes: Length 5 1/4 inches}. 

For condition report, please contact the Asian Art Department.