The Gold Standard

 

The Gold Standard

 
Glittering Footwear From Around the Globe
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The Gold Standard: Glittering Footwear from Around the Globe features some of the Bata Shoe Museum’s most impressive and precious artifacts, and explores the meanings and cultural uses of golden footwear across the globe.

The gleam of gold has always seduced humanity. Treasured for its incorruptibility and remarkable shine, gold has been used ornamentally since time immemorial and as currency since at least the Bronze Age.  Gold has ornamented the powerful and adorned the divine for thousands of years. But gold for shoes? It seems improbable. Yet golden footwear has been central to expressions of status and style in numerous cultures. From royal shoes to fashionable sneakers, the gleam of golden footwear has been used to proclaim privilege and flaunt status worldwide.

Curated by the BSM’s Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack, and comprised solely of artefacts from the BSM collection, The Gold Standard examines objects as diverse as Ancient Egyptian golden funerary sandals to rare 16th century Italian chopines to contemporary gleaming gold sneakers. Together, the objects tell the story of the ongoing popularity of golden footwear and the complex history behind its allure.

Did you know that the BSM has a streaming audio guide for this gallery available to all visitors free of charge (in English and in French)?  Click here for more information.

For media requests please contact Adrienne Naval, New Media and Marketing Coordinator.
For image requests please contact Suzanne Petersen, Collections Manager/Registrar.

Jeremy Scott x Adidas sneakers

Jeremy Scott x Adidas sneakers

American, 2016

This contemporary pair of gold Jeremy Scott x Adidas sneakers may be the height of fashion today but they harken back to the golden winged sandals made for the Ancient Greek messenger god, Hermes. Indeed, the current popularity of golden footwear has a longstanding and complex history behind it.

Japanese Pokkuri

Japanese Pokkuri

Japan, 1980

These lacquered wooden pokkuri were designed to be worn by a young girl. Pokkuri typically feature wooden platforms with hollow interiors into which small bells are placed so that each step is accompanied by a gentle tinkling. The striking black lacquer is the perfect background for the flock of golden cranes that seem to fly across the base of these pokkuri. Both gold and cranes are symbols of longevity and these pokkuri may have been worn for a special occasion such as Shichi-go-san, an annual Shinto celebration for children aged 3, 5, and 7. The use of gold brocade fabric for the toe thong adds another touch of elegance to this treasured pair.

Akan chief's sandals

Akan chief's sandals

Akan, 20th century

Among the Akan, those holding the highest positions of power, the Paramount chiefs, express their status through gold embellished accessories, the most important being their sandals. One origin story relates how the ancestors descended from the sky in a bronze vessel and before their feet touched the earth, two pairs of golden sandals appeared on their feet. Chiefs’ sandals reflect this history and are typically lavished with gold. Frequently, the decorative gilded ornaments refer to traditional proverbs that convey meanings related to good leadership.

1930s evening sandals

1930s evening sandals

French, designed by Clouet Frères, c.1930

These evening shoes are typical of early 1930s footwear. Shoes made of gold and silver leathers were promoted as neutrals designed to go with everything. Despite this suggested frugality, evening shoes such as these were still only the purview of the wealthy who could afford to enjoy evening functions in glittering attire during the Great Depression.

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