Embroidered shoes from Lucknow

Pair of shoes from Lucknow, acquired in 1855. Pair of shoes from Lucknow, acquired in 1855. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. 0515&A/(IS).

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a pair of embellished Oriental shoes (mojaris) that were acquired in Lucknow, India, in 1855. They are made of leather and cotton, and embroidered with silk and with coiled and twisted silver and gilded silver threads, and further embellished with hundreds of spangles.

They may have belonged to someone in the entourage of the local ruler, or to the ruler (the nawab) of Awadh (Oudh, of which Lucknow was the capital) himself. Each shoe is provided with four gilded silver tassels. Each of the shoes is 23.5 cm long, 11.75 cm wide and 11 cm high.

The shoes were included in the exhibition "Shoes: Pleasure and Pain",  shown at the V&A between 13th June 2015 and 31st January 2016.

The shoes may have been acquired in 1855 for what was then known as the India Museum in London, whose collection was moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum after 1879.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 6th June 2017).

WV

Last modified on Thursday, 13 May 2021 18:14