Entry/Object ID
003 ChineseDescription
Pair of traditional Manchu women's platform shoes from the late Qing Dynasty, featuring navy blue silk uppers richly embroidered with lively figural scenes depicting children at play, animals, flowering branches, and decorative garden elements. The colorful embroidery is worked in shades of coral, rose, ivory, green, gold, and pale blue against a dark ground. Intricately patterned geometric and floral bands accent the rounded toes, while pale green fabric piping and narrow ivory trim outline the openings. Small black fabric tabs extend from the heels, and the interiors are lined in natural-colored textile.
The shoes rest on distinctive, tall, ivory-colored fabric-covered platforms with narrow, recessed waists and broad, flared bases, characteristic of Manchu flowerpot shoes (huapen di xie). Traditionally worn by Manchu women as part of formal and ceremonial attire, these elevated shoes created a graceful, measured gait and distinguished Manchu footwear from the bound-foot shoes worn by some Han Chinese women.Made/Created
Time Period
Late Qing Dynasty / Early Republic PeriodAcquisition
Acquisition Method
PurchaseAmount Paid
$700.00Date
Feb 14, 1992Acquired From
Jon Eric RiisName/Title
#3 Chinese Ladies' Manchu Platform Shoes