charlestonmuseum:These little white satin wedding slippers were worn by Maria Willard Grayson, the
charlestonmuseum: These little white satin wedding slippers were worn by Maria Willard Grayson, the daughter of Hon. Williams J. Grayson, at the time of her marriage to Dr. Thomas Louis Ogier in 1833. They are very stylish for the period, being square toed slippers with long silk ribbons to tie around the ankle and a tiny ribbon bow on the vamp opening. The flat sole is thin leather. They were made as straights, but one is marked “Droit” for the right. This marking, including ”Gauche” for left, is often seen in early shoes. They are also marked in ink “M. W. O / 1833” for the original owner. Her granddaughter Julia Lynah McCoy, gave the shoes to the Charleston Museum in 1937.In the early 1800s, women abandoned high-heeled shoes and began to wear less embellished leather or silk slippers. These remained fashionable until the middle of the 19th century. Our pair bears a label from the shoemaker, Esté / M. Cordonnier, Tient Msin de Souliers / de Femmes et Enfans, &c / Rue de la Paix No 13. / Près celle revue St. Augustin / Paris.”Esté was a well-known shoemaker or cordonnier in Paris, as early as 1821. The Esté (and later Viault Esté ) are the most commonly seen labels in museum collections. By 1838, Viault either bought into or married into the business and the label became Viault Esté.While it is possible that Marian purchased these shoes in Paris, they might have been imported to Charleston, a bustling city with an array of fashionable shoe establishments.TEXTILE TUESDAYS: Each Tuesday we post a piece from the Charleston Museum’s textile collection. Some items have been on exhibit, some will eventually be shown in our Historic Textiles Gallery and some may be just too fragile to display. We hope you enjoy our selection each week – do let us know if there’s something in particular you’d like to see on TEXTILE TUESDAY! #TextileTuesday -- source link
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