Shoes did not appear in the Johannes Vermeer inventory. One wonders why - as they were costly items.
Two contemporary examples are shown here.
Pair of mens shoes, seventeenth century (?), Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, collection KOG. Photo Rijksmuseum.
Ladies shoes, unknown maker, circa 1690-1710. Green velvet, slender high heels, decorated with silver thread trimmings. 23 cm in length. Photo Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Inventory BK NM9371.
Thomas Molnyeux, in 'Correspondance with his brother' observes the footwear in Leiden: "Halting, waddling and limping men, women and children, extraordinarily frequent and common'. Women had "ugly broad and misshapen feet" which were caused by their wearing slippers. "All the times of the day you shall meet ten women in slippers for one in shoes." (Lit: C. Datema, 'British Travellers in Holland during the Stuart period. Edward Browne and John Locke as tourists in the United Provinces'. Thesis, Vrije Universiteit, 1989, p. 147.)
Note: Photo Copyright Rijksmuseum Foundation. The Rijksmuseum has graciously assisted in this project Digital Home of Johannes Vermeer. The author was given permission to make a selection in the vast photo archive and this material has been made available by the Rijksmuseum.
Note : This object was NOT part of the Vermeer-inventory as listed by the clerk working for Delft notary public J. van Veen. He made this list on February 29, 1676, in the Thins/Vermeer home located on Oude Langendijk on the corner of Molenpoort. The painter Johannes Vermeer had died there at the end of December 1675. His widow Catherina and their eleven children still lived there with her mother Maria Thins.
The transcription of the 1676 inventory, now in the Delft archives, is based upon its first full publication by A.J.J.M. van Peer, "Drie collecties...", Oud Holland, 1957, pp. 98-103.
This page forms part of a large encyclopedic site on Vermeer and Delft. Research by Drs. Kees Kaldenbach (email). A full presentation is on view at johannesvermeer.info.
Launched December, 2002; Last update March 2, 2017.
Back to the Welcome page: click Welcome.