Pair of Chinese Silk Lotus Slippers, c. 1850

These pointed silk slippers are beautifully embroidered with colorful bats and golden coins, symbols of happiness and good luck, and were shaped to resemble a lotus bud to enhance one's bound feet. A practice that began in the Tang dynasty and reached the height of its popularity during the Qing dynasty, foot binding was a painful process intended to make a woman's feet as small as possible by restricting bone growth from an early age. The smaller the feet the more attractive and erotic they were, giving elite women a mark of elegance and a distinctive, albeit tortured, gait of small, light steps. These beautifully preserved lotus slippers...

These pointed silk slippers, beautifully embroidered with pink plum blossoms, were shaped to resemble a lotus bud and enhanced the diminutive shape of b...

These pointed slippers, beautifully embroidered with light blue plum blossoms on black silk, were shaped to resemble a lotus bud and enhanced the diminutive shape of bound feet. A practice that began in the Tang dynasty and reached the height of its popularity during the Qing dynasty, foot binding was a painful process intended to make a woman's feet as small as possible by restricting bone growth from an early age. The smaller the feet the more attractive and erotic they were, giving elite women a mark of elegance and a distinctive - albeit tortured - gait of small, light steps. These beautifully preserved lotus slippers...

Each of these pointed slippers, crafted of beautifully embroidered silk, were shaped to resemble a lotus bud and enhanced the diminutive shape of bound feet. A practice that began in the Tang dynasty and reached the height of its popularity during the Qing dynasty, foot binding was a painful process intended to make a woman's feet as small as possible by restricting bone growth from an early age. The smaller the feet the more attractive and erotic they were, giving elite women a mark of elegance and a distinctive - albeit tortured - gait of small, light steps. These beautifully preserved lotus slippers...

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