The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a pair of remarkably well-preserved leather shoes from medieval Egypt.
The shoes, which originally may have been purple or red, are decorated with gilding (gold leaf) and embroidery, using linen and silk (?) thread. The shoes measure 26 x 8 cm, with a height of 7 cm.
The uppers (vamps) are decorated with a disc shaped, gilded motif that contains eight smaller circles without gilding, which in turn include embroidered stars (possibly using silk thread).
Curatorial information by the V&A states that the shoes are made with the so-called ‘turning’ technique: the sole and upper are first sewn together, and then turned inside out, whereby the vulnerable sтιтchwork is placed on the inside of the shoe.
The same information states that the shoes were made sometime between 300-500 AD and should be ᴀssociated with the burial of a Coptic woman. However, both the shape of the shoe and the type of decoration would suggest a more recent, medieval period.
