Damaged

Let us take a closer look at the slippers themselves. Upon closer inspection, these slippers reveal a few interesting clues. Aside from the delicate silk fraying near the nose of the shoe (see fig. 1) and perhaps some discoloration of the fabric, the slippers are in fairly good condition. The inner sole is barely dented, and still retains its fiery red coloration.

However, the outer sole does show some evidence of slight wear and tear near the heel (see fig. 2 and 3), which implies that these shoes might have been worn at least once before becoming part of a collection. Unfortunately, we can only speculate about their treatment. However, the combination of the short toe-box and the open heel make these slippers slightly inconvenient for everyday wear. This might explain the infrequent usage, but also raises even more questions. Why were these shoes made this way? What might have been their function?