Details
A pair of ivory silk lady's shoes, figured with a dot motif, with needlepoint toe and 2in. (5cm.) covered thin wedged heel, the vamp embellished with an ivory silk frill, straights, circa 1770s
See Illustration
See Illustration
Provenance
Viscountess Sandhurst, daughter of Mathew Arnold.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Further details
These shoes are said to have belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette. They were bought by Mr Justice later Sir William Wightman when at the Peace Treaties in Paris in 1818/19. On his death they passed to his daughter, Eleanor who married Mathew Arnold the poet and then on to her daughter Viscountess Sandhurst. The shoes were then inherited by her ward, the Rev Alex Lawson, who passed them on to the vendor in 1966.