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Aboriginal

Slippers 1920-27

Shell, sand, velvet | 4.0 x 10.5 x 5.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 63686

Grand Vestibule, Windsor Castle

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  • Pair of miniature slippers, bordered with velvet and decorated with shells and sand.

    The shellwork tradition in Australia began as an Aboriginal female handicraft which was adapted and tailored for the tourist market by the late nineteenth century. As early as the 1880s, indigenous women were recorded selling shell baskets and other souvenirs at Circular Quay and Botany Bay in the Sydney area. They were encouraged by European missionaries, who sought markets for them inland and overseas. Today, shellwork crafts remain popular among international visitors, but they are also increasingly in demand in museums and galleries where they are considered high art.
    Provenance

    A hand-written label on paper printed '145 Piccadilly, W1' states 'Made by Aborigines [sic] of Victoria, Australia'. However, the slippers are more likely to have been made at La Perouse in the Sydney area, where the shellwork tradition was strong.

    The address of the handwritten note suggests these may have been in the possession of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth when Duke and Duchess of York.  The slippers may have been a gift to them for their daughter, Princess Elizabeth, during their tour to Australia in 1927.

  • Medium and techniques

    Shell, sand, velvet

    Measurements

    4.0 x 10.5 x 5.0 cm (whole object)

  • Place of Production

    Australia


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