Shoes
PeriodCirca 1793
Place MadeNew York City, New York, U.S.A.
MediumSilk, leather, linen, silk ribbon
Dimensions2.25 × 8.25 in. (5.7 × 21 cm)
SignedA printed paper label glued to the inside of the right shoe, partially worn away, reads in part "Ladies shoes and Sandals / Gentlemens boots and shoes / made and sold by / Thomas [worn away] / New York."
ClassificationsCostume, Women's
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Charles G. Bennett and Miss Louise Hartshorne, 1935
Object number849
DescriptionA pair of women's wedding shoes or slippers, of lightweight ivory silk. The shoes are made without lasts (left or right), with pointed toes and two-inch Louis style heels. Ivory silk ribbon is pleated and sewn to the front edges of both shoes, with additional narrow slk ribbon rosettes sewn to the center fronts of each shoe. Cotton cording is sewn inside the edge seams of the shoe openings for shape and support. Both shoes are lined with lightweight rough woven linen. A printed paper maker's label is glued to the inside of one shoe.Curatorial RemarksThe Historical Association has a number of artifacts owned and used by John and Mary Loyd Hendrickson. In addition to clothing items, the Association also has a clothes press made by Middletown furniture maker Fenwick Lyell (accession number 1984.2.1) and a set of shield back side chairs (1995.530), likely made as wedding gifts for the couple's marriage in 1793. These wedding slippers retain a partial label of their maker. The shoemaker, whose first name was Thomas, has not yet been identified.NotesThese fragile ivory silk slippers were worn by Mary Loyd (1772 - 1865) at her wedding to John Hendrickson (1773 - 1807) on November 27, 1793. The couple had seven children. John Hendrickson died at the age of 34 on January 21, 1807 and was buried in the Hendrickson Burying Ground in Middletown. Mary Loyd Hendrickson never remarried, dying at the age of 93 in 1865. After her son Charles married Julia Ann Schureman, Mary Loyd Hendrickson lived with the family until her death. John Hendrickson's wedding breeches are part of a large group of Hendrickson family garments which entered the Historical Association's collection in 1935. The Association also has John Hendrickson's pale blue silk wedding breeches (see accession number 832.)
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