Pair of bootees for a baby

This pair of baby's boots are thought to have been made during the early nineteenth century. The outside of the boots, including the sole, are made of cream silk, and the lining is in a plain cream cotton. They are decorated with green silk tatting and a cream button from which two twisted silk cords with tassles hang.

Tatting is a technique whereby a continuous length of thread wound on a small shuttle is looped and knotted to form a series of linked rings. Although it produces delicate looking results (in French it is called frivolité), it is in fact a durable technique. The tatting would have been made separately and then stitched to the boot. The combination of elaborate decoration and expensive materials suggest that the boot was probably made for the child of a wealthy family.