Slippers
Unknown Artist
early 1840s
Medium
leather, silk
Classification
Slippers
Culture
American
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Walter Wile, 1949
Accession Number
C.I.49.55a, b
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 1840s America with these delicate *Slippers*, a charming artifact from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Crafted in the early 1840s by an unknown artist, they combine supple leather for sturdy soles with luxurious silk uppers, reflecting the period's blend of practicality and refinement. This gift from Mrs. Walter Wile in 1949 preserves a slice of everyday fashion from a time when the United States was embracing its own cultural identity amid rapid industrialization and expanding westward horizons. In the early Victorian era, indoor slippers li...