Decorated slippers Decorated slippers

This type of slipper, or jutti, is common in India and worn by members of all classes. The design, with the sharp extended tip, or nokh, curving upwards, derives from the Mughal era. This finely decorated pair has leather soles with a very slight heel and leather uppers with a felt lining. The uppers also have decorative detail made of felt and a braided edge. Sewn onto the front is a design made up of sequins derived from the wings of beetles (Stenocera aequisignata) which have been used in India for this purpose for centuries. They were perhaps a gift to George Lewis, who presented his cabinet of ‘Oriental’ manuscripts and curiosities to the Library in 1727, although they are not listed in his own catalogue of its contents printed the same year.

This type of slipper, or jutti, is common in India and worn by members of all classes. The design, with the sharp extended tip, or nokh, curving upwards, derives from the Mughal era. This finely decorated pair has leather soles with a very slight heel and leather uppers with a felt lining. The uppers also have decorative detail made of felt and a braided edge. Sewn onto the front is a design made up of sequins derived from the wings of beetles (Stenocera aequisignata) which have been used in India for this purpose for centuries. They were perhaps a gift to George Lewis, who presented his cabinet of ‘Oriental’ manuscripts and curiosities to the Library in 1727, although they are not listed in his own catalogue of its contents printed the same year.